Plato of Your Kind
by Ljiljana
Summary: Desperate for money, Naruto accepts a job Jiraiya would never approve of. AU, yaoi
1. Prologue: Wisdom of Body

**Warnings**:

a) Characters are very OOC, I know that. I even considered writing his story as an original… but for an original, it would be a very crappy story indeed.

b) I know nothing about all these things - action, surveillance, weapons, blah, blah; I even don't know anything about living in a city, for I am a small town girl. I did a lot of research, of course, but that is not nearly enough, so please forgive my messed up technicalities and other mistakes. Just having fun here.

* * *

**Plato of Your Kind**

Prologue

**Wisdom of Body**

_There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy_.

~ Nietzsche

* * *

The club was a wrong place for Naruto to be right then.

He was too tired to dance after a long day at work, he couldn't drink because he had to be in the hospital first thing in the morning and the smoke was making his eyes tear up and itch. The place was nice, though. Some people were sitting at low round tables, drinking the colorful drinks the club was famous for and a lot of them were dancing to a remix of a vaguely familiar song. The atmosphere was good, but all Naruto wanted to do was sleep through a night and maybe get a day off sometime that month.

He couldn't say no to Sakura, though. Not after everything she had done for him in the last several months. After all the cleaning, washing his clothes while he was running from one job to another, and not the least for just being with him when Jiraiya got sick, what was a small favor of getting her and Ino in one of the better clubs to celebrate an exam passed?

Jiraiya's security agency had at least been good for that. All the employees had been city's elite. When the agency had to be sold because Jiraiya was so horrible at business that everything fell apart at the first sign of trouble, they were scattered all over, their reputation easily getting them good jobs. When he had mentioned in passing that one of them, a half-giant named Ibiki, was now working as security chief in this place, Sakura made Naruto ask him to let them in tonight.

Sakura and Ino were talking with some guys who had bought them drinks a bit earlier. Naruto could see from where he was leaning on the banister of the stairwell leading somewhere upstairs. Even though they seemed harmless enough, he had to check them out. Sakura would not like it if she knew that he had lifted their wallets as soon as the two of them accepted the drinks and memorized – well, memorized the important bits of - the information in the documents before returning them discreetly. He couldn't do anything else to make sure they were safe without getting beaten up by Sakura and left without the discount Ino was giving him on the flowers and other things he was buying in her family's shop, because the girls thought they could take care of themselves.

Mostly, they could.

Instead of saying goodbye, for that would have interrupted whatever the guy with unusually thick eyebrows was telling Sakura that got her to blush violently, Naruto typed out a short message and sent it to her. She couldn't hear her phone in over the music, but she would check it as soon as she noticed he was gone.

The emergency door was closer, but there was a broad guy with club name tag on his black t-shirt next to them. Thinking that he will not likely be let out through there, Naruto stopped to observe. He didn't feel like going to find Ibiki nothing more than going through the sea of dancing people to reach the main door. Man's weakness was obvious after only several seconds. Next time a girl with the cleavage bigger than her brain walked by on her way to the toilet, Naruto slipped behind him and out of the door.

The alley behind the club was empty. Naruto braced himself against the icy cold air and the stench that was coming from the dumpster, and turned to where the alley was melting into the street.

A jeep turned in before he made a couple of steps. Naruto knew that car, or better yet, he recognized the symbol on the sides. It was very likely Itachi was coming in.

He backed off without thinking. Chances that Itachi would remember him were slim; Naruto's parents had moved out of the neighborhood when Naruto was maybe twelve. He didn't want to risk it. He wasn't feeling like talking, even if it was only to explain what he was doing behind the club, and he definitely wasn't feeling like being searched inside out if the obligatory thugs rendered him suspicious.

Naruto retreated into the dark, into the heavy shadows and closer to the dumpster. He knew that crouching would be a better way to conceal himself in this situation, but that would be rather drastic and, if Itachi's security spotted him, potentially even more problematic. He turned so his shoulder was facing the open space, to make himself the smallest potential viewing target, if someone looked carefully enough at the shadows.

Once the last of the four doors closed, and the sound of automatic locking echoed off the walls, Itachi's phone ringed, startlingly shrill. He answered it, opening the phone in one swift elegant move.

Down on the ground around Naruto, the things that couldn't fit into the dumpster were laying – used condoms, used pieces of toilet paper, tampons. Things from the club's toilets. Watching carefully, so he wouldn't step on something if forced to retreat more, Naruto even saw a real, extra large human shit. Someone couldn't wait in the line. No matter how much money was spent on a club, or how imaginative the lights were, the trash next to it was being picked up only once a week, just like everyplace else.

Itachi's slightly annoyed voice snapped back Naruto's attention. He was not the type to show annoyance and raise his voice. Even if Naruto hadn't had the opportunity to know that personally, he would have known anyway because people talked about Itachi a lot. This was uncharacteristic.

"No, lady, for the last time, you've got the wrong number," Itachi said and hung up.

Naruto thought that it would be funny, an old lady – or he presumed it was an old lady because Itachi was pretty nice, considering – calling a big crime lord just before he was about to go inside of his dirty jobs fortress, only it sounded ridiculous at this hour. Not to mention that this alley was most likely one of the places he was most vulnerable at; there must be a good reason for the back door being completely out of use.

An old lady getting Itachi's number several time in a row while he was so exposed by accident sounded improbable.

Already wary, Naruto tensed further when Itachi's phone ringed again. He quickly scanned the surroundings. The building above him had just a wall on that side, the club had on the upper side a huge, yellow window, but of those that couldn't open. The trash was too far away from the exit; Itachi would have no reason to stray that much. That excluded a bomb. What was left was…

…The apartment complex across the street. Most of the windows were still lit, being only twelve and all, so Naruto quickly looked over the dark ones. And there it was, third floor, second visible window from the right, opened, with a long barrel leaned on the windowsill.

Before making a conscious decision to do it, Naruto ran. When his mind caught up with his body, he was swearing - cursing Itachi for being nice to him when he was a kid and giving him a candy bar once, cursing Sasuke for whatever it was that was making him a good childhood memory, because it wasn't his personality - but he was still running. Itachi's guards noticed him and started drawing their weapons. It was too late.

Naruto used the force of his sprint to knock Itachi over. He didn't hear the shot – silencers were not completely silent but workable on this distance – but he heard when the bullet hit chassis of the jeep over his head. Naruto quickly got up on his feet. He dragged Itachi behind the car, staying as low as possible.

Once safe, he scanned the surroundings once again. Bodyguards were apparently out of shock. The smaller one was running to the beginning of the alley and the bigger one, with oddly bluish skin, was checking if his boss was undamaged.

"Where?" He demanded of Naruto once he was sure that Itachi was alright.

"Third floor," Naruto answered, trying to control the slight pant.

The guy looked once again at him, a calculating sharp eyes roaming over his face, and left without a word. Itachi, leaning at the car with his back, didn't appear to be worried. If anything, he seemed to find the situation amusing.

"Naruto." So, he remembered after all. "This is a surprise."

Not sure how to deal with the calculating gaze, Naruto asked uncomfortably, "Are you hurt?"

"No," Itachi said, not changing the expression. "Thanks to you."

"I meant, when you hit the ground with me on top."

"I'm fine. But I see you took over your godfather's business." Naruto automatically frowned. He was always around, it was just the way it was in his family, and that was probably almost as good as if he was trained. He even had some experience, but he didn't want to take over Jiraiya's business. "I wanted to hire him several times. He said no."

No wonder. Itachi was just a common criminal. Well, he was some sort of mega-boss, but Jiraiya's usual clientele were politicians, famous actors - important people with legal jobs. He was maybe a dumbass for the money issues, but very good at what he did.

"We sold it months ago," Naruto informed him. Jiraiya was still the owner of one third of the agency, actually, but Naruto had sold the rest of it, two thirds he'd inherited from his parents. He had to sell it; Jiraiya was in hospital for a long time, the bills were horrible because the old fart messed up even that little bit of health insurance he was bothering to take. It didn't matter, anyway, because the place had stopped working on the day Jiraiya was admitted.

"Waste," Itachi answered.

Naruto glanced at the building across the street. Itachi's big blue guy was in the right room, clearly visible on the light that was now turned off. The smaller guy was making his way back. Everything was under control, one way or the other.

"Okay, then," Naruto said, after a short struggle to say something more productive. Itachi simply nodded. Only partly aware of Itachi getting up on his feet and watching him open the door of the club, Naruto walked back into the smoke and nauseating mixture of perfumes, still planning to go home, but taking the path that was maybe longer and more annoying but was also safer for now. With adrenalin withdrawing, he felt more tired than ever.


	2. Ch1: Out of Place, Out of Season

**Beta**: Aerae

**Plato of Your Kind**

Part One

**Out of Place, Out of Season**

(George Jackson)

* * *

Even though it was only the middle of fall, Naruto had to blow into his hands to warm them up. He had taken the job on the filling station just outside of the city because it paid well. The danger involved in a work with flammable substances had a good bonus. But the boss was an asshole who wouldn't allow his workers to go inside the station, where it was bright and warm, even when more than one of them worked at a time and there was not a single vehicle in sight.

Naruto was working the third shift that week. He was cold. He was standing outside so that people from the freeway could see that the station would be quick on service, and that wasn't deep enough to protect him from the nasty swifts of freezing wind, sharpened by small, icy drops of rain. Watching the poor prostitutes in short pants without any socks, shaking, wasn't making him feel any better. Their endless pacing - from the side of the small restaurant to the public bathroom and back - and occasional laughter were chilling him even more than the harsh weather.

There was barely any work at four o'clock in the morning, so when an ordinary _Passat_ - manufactured sometime in the nineties - turned in, Naruto noticed it right away. As he moved closer to the nozzles, the car drove into the lights of the reflectors. There was no mistaking those small eyes, or that oddly bluish skin; behind the wheel was one of Itachi's bodyguards, the big one.

Naruto gritted his teeth, not liking it.

The day after he'd saved Itachi's life behind the club, the hospital called. A bed had just opened in the hospital wing Jiraiya was supposed to be staying at but couldn't for the lack of space, so they called to inform Naruto about the relocation. He asked about it, but they refused to tell him anything. They didn't really have to. It couldn't be a coincidence.

A few months ago Naruto would not have accepted it, not only from Itachi but from anyone. Things were not getting better. The hopes were getting seriously slim. Jiraiya was not getting better and Naruto couldn't handle the bills any longer. Asking others for help was just getting harder the longer he was hesitating.

Despite of it coming from a guy like Itachi, Naruto was somewhat relieved by the change. The staff in that part of the hospital was better trained for handling Jiraiya's needs.

Naruto decided to pretend it was just another unfamiliar customer. He filled the tank and Big Blue went to pay for it inside. Naruto thought he was being paranoid. But on his way back, Big Blue halted near him.

"He wants to talk to you."

Of course. It was too much to hope for. Couldn't Itachi just accept life for a better hospital treatment? It sounded like a fair trade to Naruto.

"I'm working," he answered, keeping his voice down and face away from where his boss was watching through the window.

"Accepting this conversation and what may come out of it could turn out to be very profitable. And good for the health of your godfather." Those words were followed by an ugly grin.

And even though everything was bound to be ugly at that face, Naruto froze and gritted out, "_What_? Is that his way to thank me for saving his life?"

The grin melted and was replaced with a frown, before Big Blue realized what Naruto was talking about. "That wasn't a threat, kid. I mean it. Better hospital, all bills paid. And something for you, too."

"And I just need to do what?" Naruto bitterly asked. Bills don't just _go away_. "Kill the Mayor?"

It was the hardest thing he could think of. The new mayor was extremely popular in the city. It was amazing how much good he had managed a short while. It was staggering to see the revolutionary changes he had managed to make for the betterment of society, in just six months on the position.

Big Blue grinned shortly, his shark smile hideous and scary. "Itachi predicted you would be skeptical. It's a bodyguard duty, nothing morally challenging."

Naruto countered, "I find being a bodyguard to a criminal morally challenging."

Big Blue didn't react. "I am not allowed to say anything else. But the offer is at least worth a talk."

Naruto didn't answer. Back when he wasn't yet faced with the awful, careless mistake Jiraiya had made on his health insurance papers and had to give a large part of the money he got from selling his part of the agency to pay just for many tests that were done, Naruto had talked to the doctors about the best options, not the only one left. In the capital, there was a good hospital with an amazing program for Hodgkin's disease. Best in that part of the world.

Yeah, it was worth the talk. But why would Itachi want _him_? He must have known that the thing behind the club was just an accident. Naruto didn't want to be a bodyguard.

He truly didn't.

Big Blue took Naruto's silence as conformation. "Let's go then."

"I'm working." Naruto repeated. "I'm willing to hear him out, but I need this job."

"I'll be waiting for you at the end of your shift."

Naruto wasn't happy the big guy wasn't asking him when the shift was ending. They didn't just ask about his whereabouts, they did a proper research. Maybe someone was following him? Well, brushing up on the things he had learned over the years of playing around at the agency didn't sound like a bad idea, because if someone had been following him, Naruto hadn't noticed.

Big Blue returned to his car without waiting for confirmation. Naruto wanted to move, to pace and shake off the coldness of the wind more than ever. He straightened his collar to protect his neck from the bitter stabs of stray raindrops. It didn't help much.

Every instinct he had was yelling that it was a bad idea to take whatever job Itachi was about to offer him. Once you get involved, there is no going back. If Jiraiya found out that he was going to meet Itachi, Naruto would be berated to death. But it had been so long already. He was tired of lame jobs, getting only snippets of sleep, and being delivered yet another bill he just had to pay.

It would have been better if he just told Jiraiya about the fail in the health insurance. But Naruto couldn't do that, not on top of medication, treatments, and radiation. And a duty as a bodyguard was hardly the same thing as debt collection. Or being a hitman.

At fifteen to seven, when the sky on the east was almost golden through the light gray clouds, the _Passat_ came back. Naruto told his colleague - the one he usually waited on the bus station with him - to forego waiting and got onto the passenger seat of the car.

Big Blue was driving a very complicated and long path through too many neighborhoods. Naruto soon realized he was just aiming to disorient him. Switching off the automat that was trying to memorize _left, left, right, straight…_ Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed into the seat. He was better off not knowing where the – _the crime nest_ was, anyway. And the car had a heating, which was nice.

In the end, they stopped in front of an ordinary apartment building. On the third floor, behind an ordinary white door, Itachi was, of all ordinary things, reading newspapers.

"I'm glad you came," he said when he saw Naruto, but there was not a single trace of gladness in his face.

Naruto shrugged.

"Would you like something to drink? Or eat? Kisame says you have been working all night."

Big Blue had a name uglier than his teeth. Naruto wasn't surprised.

"I'd like to get this over with," he said, wondering how someone can say nice, polite sounding things and look like he doesn't even know what polite means. "What do you want?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes for a second, and nodded. It was too early to be up already; he was probably awake all night and needed some sleep as well.

"I want you to work for me. It's a speci-"

"No," Naruto interrupted unceremoniously.

Itachi didn't spare him a single glance as he stood up. "A specific job that shouldn't last more than a few weeks. I have important business to take care of, and I need to know that my brother is safe while I'm doing it."

"Your brother?" Naruto asked, more as a prompt than anything. His stomach did a little excited flip. What _was_ Sasuke up to these days?

"I can't warn him. We are not on good terms," Itachi said, looking directly at Naruto. "But I am afraid that my enemies don't care much about that."

How could anyone say something like 'my enemies' so naturally?

Itachi wasn't quite finished, so Naruto focused. "As you can guess, Sasuke is not very happy with me and what I do. He is trying to make a life for himself, which is good. But it means I have to be extra careful about it when I need to protect him."

Naruto fisted his hands. This job was starting to sound good. Not just acceptable, but something he wanted to do – if only because he would find out more about Sasuke. Naruto was curious about him, and Itachi made it clear he didn't want to have anything with his business. And it would help Jiraiya.

It was _tempting_.

"Why me?" He had to ask. "I'm sure you can afford people who were actually trained for this, probably for less than it takes to take care of my hospital bills."

"You saved my life," Itachi stated flatly. "Ibiki says you are fit for the job, too. And I couldn't find that many people who are competent and the right age."

Naruto frowned. The right age for the job would be any age that allows you to do it well, he always thought. Sometimes experience can make up for the lack of youthful speed, and vice versa. "There is a right age for the job?"

"Sasuke is spending most of his time either at school or home. Because I want him followed all day long without him knowing, I need people who wouldn't stick out on the campus."

Just a guy, going to college, trying to build his own future, in need of protection from because of something that was not his fault. Damn. "So he's living in the dorms?"

"No, he lives in a small apartment nearby."

"And that is all? Make sure nothing happens to him?" Naruto asked. "You won't yank me for all kinds of bullshit after that?"

Itachi was quiet for a moment. "This is an exceptional situation, Naruto. A precaution. The business I'm taking care off now is not something I do on regular bases. If I succeed, Sasuke won't be in any danger. But if I fail…"

If he fails, and Sasuke didn't want to have anything to do with his brother's job, then it shouldn't matter. What was going on? Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"That doesn't answer my question."

Itachi smiled, too gently. It was unfitting to the situation and not pleasant. "My point is, I won't fail. I can't afford it. So you will have no chance to prove yourself and tempt me into trying to make you work for me permanently."

"Right," Naruto snorted. What a load of bullshit. Well, maybe not the part about Itachi's plans, but the way he answered… It was just _not answering_. And yet, he was about to agree anyway. "So, what was that about better hospital terms?"

"Capital's East Hospital has a good program for treating Hodgkin's," Itachi said. Naruto was again annoyed with how much they knew, but at least he won't have _to ask_. Itachi was offering. "I can arrange transfer by plane in a matter of hours."

"And you will pay for the full stay? Medications, service, treatments, _everything_? Upfront?" He had to make sure. There was just no way for Naruto to pick up the pieces and continue if something happened.

"Yes. And some money on top of it, so you could concentrate on the job, instead of your empty stomach."

It won't get much clearer than this. Naruto would get everything he wanted, and in exchange, he had to protect life of an innocent. It was not a bad deal, even if it was risky in many ways. If Itachi came a-knocking later, Naruto didn't have to open the door.

"Fine, then," he finally agreed.

Itachi gave him one more of his really creepy smiles. Naruto wondered if he had any idea about how scary they are as he shifted from one foot to another and prepared to hear the details.

* * *

They were a four men team. Well, three men and a really bitchy, annoying girl. But it was four of them, working in two twelve hours shifts. Naruto was stuck with Karin, and he hated it. She fancied herself _in love_ with the guy they were watching out for. Not very professional, to say the least.

Naruto couldn't see what the fuss she made was all about. Sasuke was good looking, sure, but not as much as his brother was. He was leading a very boring life full of books, various disgustingly looking green food and _snakes_. He was studying to be something called herpetologist, which Karin explained several times in a row right after she read all about it in the college brochure that she'd picked up when she was supposed to be in the bathroom. A Herpetologist was a scientist who was an expert in reptiles and such crawling animals. But Sasuke seemed to like snakes most of them all; he even had a pet snake in his apartment.

It had been more than a week since Jiraiya had been settled in the hospital in the capital. Naruto called him every day, of course. He wanted to go and see his godfather, but not before this job was done. There had been no sign or message from Itachi since that morning. Naruto was paid well, though. And Karin was occasionally too busy watching to talk, so that was an upside.

First week on the job, Naruto was doing the day shift. That meant six hours of active following the 'subject' around, and six hours of listening. He was good in classes, always being the one called out to answer, always asking questions. But that was the only time he was talking more than few words at the time without insulting anyone. Listening hours were not much fun.

Following Sasuke around was only slightly more interesting, and only because despite him thinking that Sasuke was nothing special, Naruto could appreciate his moderately good looks – nice eyes, interesting hair, perfect skin… Okay, so Karin had a point or two somewhere in all the babbling. But there is a lot of difference between looking and _wanting_. And Naruto most definitely would never allow himself to be distracted by something he can't have and fail to do the job that was intrusted to him for something so stupid.

That night was Naruto's second evening in the six a.m. to six p.m. shift. It was easier to work, because judging from the reports of the other part of the team, Sasuke rarely went out once he got home. The van with the surveillance equipment was parked just around the corner, but there was also an empty apartment on the lowest floor in the building across the street, with a perfect view on Sasuke's living room and the kitchen. God only knew what Itachi and people working for him had to do to make sure that one was available.

Radio on the table cracked and sighed, "He's making coffee, isn't he? I can hear him."

"He doesn't drink coffee," Naruto said, without picking up the radio and pressing the button. What was it exactly that she kept staring at all day long?

"Naruto? Give me visual! I can _hear_ him making coffee!"

Across the street, Sasuke had his head half way into the freezer. He got something out, and left it on the table before washing his hands over the kitchen sink. Naruto had to lean heavily to see him walk with the thing from the freezer into the corner of the leaving room. That wasn't enough to watch how a snake is being fed, not that Naruto had any particular wish to watch. But there was no doubt that was what Sasuke was doing, because the large cage with a bowl of water was the only thing in that corner.

Naruto picked up the radio. "He's giving coffee to his pet. I doubt it's healthy, I'll have to consult animal rights movement on this."

"What are you, blind?" Karin protested. "Of course he's not giving coffee to the snake, don't be stupid."

Naruto grinned to himself. She was so easy to fool around with. Even when she knew he was pulling her strings, it was impossible for her to not react. It was his only fun nowadays, so Naruto couldn't resist for most occasions.

"Is it time to switch yet?" he asked instead of trying to reassure her he was neither stupid nor blind. Chances it would work after two hundred of failed attempts were as good as nonexistent. "I'm tired of looking at his ugly face."

"His face is not ugly," Karin predictably snapped. "And no, it's only ten-twenty." Naruto waited, almost counting three seconds down. "But we can switch, I don't mind. I have to pee anyway."

Sure she had to pee. She was so desperate not to look desperate, it was pathetic.

"I'm waiting," he answered, when Sasuke across the street walked back into the room, buttoning up his shirt. "Wait, Karin. Wait a minute. He may be going somewhere."

"Where?"

Naruto ignored her. She was more likely to know, she was the one listening. He only had a decent view on guy's living room. Sasuke took off the wrist watch he was always wearing and left it on the top of a book shelf. That wasn't good. Naruto prompted even more – just in time to see Sasuke putting on a jacket that, although also black, was unfamiliar.

"He left behind both his watch and his jacket."

"But it's freezing outside!"

"Both bugs _and_ the tracker! Who was the one claiming he doesn't go anywhere without his watch?"

All the reports said so; Sasuke Uchiha always had his father's watch with him. The phone, he leaves behind when he's going to school, so that was only set to record conversations. Naruto was the one who personally went the apartment to put in the equipment, but he didn't see that jacket anywhere. If Sasuke just bought it, someone should have told him.

"It's his father's watch! He's not!"

He was not, but the watch was still on the bookshelf, and Sasuke was closing the front door behind him.

"Just come pick me up. We have no choice; we have to go after him."

Before Karin arrived with the van, another car parked across the street and Sasuke got inside without hesitation. As far Naruto could see, from an awkward angle he had, the driver had long white-blond hair. Was it some girl? No one reported Sasuke had a girlfriend; there were no signs of any relationship.

Naruto looked behind him. Karin was already on the street when he walked out. They followed the car Sasuke was in, as discreetly as that was possible with a crazy woman driving a black van. The part of the city they followed Sasuke in was not very familiar to Naruto, but the area they parked finally, with a good view over the river, seemed nice.

The last doubt Sasuke was just out for some fun disappeared when he and the guy with him – because it was a guy – walked into a club of some sort. The place didn't seem too big, more like a modern bar with not too loud and rather good music.

"We have to go inside," Naruto said. Karin had to know that, but she wasn't moving.

She frowned at him, "I wouldn't exactly blend in. You go."

"What? You're more dressed for clubbing or whatever."

She was dressed in some short and black outfit, like always. Naruto had on his old jeans and simple gray shirt with a jacket over.

"Well, a girl in that place would attract too much attention."

Naruto took another look at the entrance. It seemed normal. There weren't many people outside… But they were all male. Naruto narrowed his eyes and waited, regardless of what Karin said, so he wouldn't make a mistake. A pair of not very young but very happy guys walked out hand in hand.

Yeah, good, great. A gay club. At least it wasn't like one of those Kakashi was always in, those are really gross. Jiraiya sent Naruto in those a few times, when he were working discreet job for some politician, too keep an eye out for his grandson. If he could handle himself there, he could do it in this, much tamer, place.

"Well," Naruto said. Sasuke in the gay club was an appealing thought.

"He's just keeping company to his friend," Karin informed him.

Naruto opened the door before she could start listing the excuses, "Okay, I'm going."

There was no metal detector or anything, so Naruto took his weapon with him. There was one guy on the entrance, looking like a bouncer, but there was not a lot of work for him. Naruto hoped he won't have any problems getting in.

The bouncer just glanced at him, and returned to whatever he was doing. There were many people inside, more than Naruto expected. Some guys were turning when he was walking by, and for the first time in his adult life, Naruto couldn't say for sure if they were checking him out or looking at his very inappropriate clothes. There was not nearly as much neither glitter nor leather as in Kakashi's places, but people were wearing good, mostly tight clothes.

Sasuke was at the bar right then, with the long-haired _guy_ and some other people. Naruto took a position on the other side of that bar, so he'd have a good view and ordered a drink. Nothing special was going on. The group looked like any other group, friends catching up, laughing. Sasuke seemed relaxed, like he knew these people well. That was good. If anyone noticed him staring, they weren't showing it.

Naruto was usually more discreet. But then, he usually had some sort of back up, a tracker or someone else in the room. If Sasuke decided to slip away, and Naruto happened to… admire interesting costumes two men on the dance floor were wearing, for example, at that moment, Sasuke could end up anywhere. _Anywhere_ was a dangerous place.

It made Naruto's life very difficult that Sasuke was attracting a lot of attention. People were approaching all the time, sending drinks. Sasuke… didn't seem very interested in most of them. He was enjoying the attention, though, Naruto was almost sure of it.

He finished his one acceptable drink. He caught waiter's eye, but when he offered money, the oldish, glittery guy, told him, "That's alright, love. You're covered."

"I am?" It was a _good thing_ no one was paying any attention to him. Naruto rather preferred it that way. Damn it.

"Hmmm, and I'd say he's very interested," the waiter nodded toward the other end of the table. Naruto followed the movement and found Sasuke watching him, his head cocked tiniest bit to a side. "He said he's paying everything you're having tonight."

"When?"

The waiter blinked. "The newcomers usually ask why, just in case."

It was obvious why. Sasuke saw through him. Naruto was more worried about how the fuck had he missed it?

"_When_ did he tell you that?"

"Half an hour ago? Something like that."

The waiter gave him another weird look and rushed off to help some other customer. Sasuke was still looking at him, the expression unchanged. Naruto wondered what he should do. If he nodded his gratefulness, that might be taken as an admission of some sort. He did what he always did when insecure towards what he should do next, and grinned.

In response, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto turned to watch the dance floor, keeping him in sight with a corner of his eye. He had to pretend he was doing something else. It was probably too late… but it wasn't as if Sasuke had any proof. As long as he knew, Naruto could be just… interested, with all the staring. So if Naruto pretended he had more exciting things in mind, maybe Sasuke would forget about it.

He was out of luck, he realized. Sasuke was coming over. Well, better stop acting coy now; it was too late.

There wasn't quite enough space for a person between Naruto and a guy with a body builder body, who looked like he could be anything but gay, but it somehow magically fit Sasuke in. Naruto was more leaning on than sitting in his stool. He wished he was sitting. Maybe it was guilt for screwing up, but he was hyper aware of Sasuke's closeness and his narrowed, assessing look.

"Hi?" Naruto finally said when it was obvious Sasuke wouldn't bother.

"I think I've been seeing you around lately."

_Oh, please, tell me it's just the lamest pick-up line ever_.

"I don't think so. It's my first time out… here."

Sasuke nodded, like to say that it was obvious, "Around the campus."

Okay, so it wasn't a lame pick-up line. It was Naruto doing his job sloppily. It was embarrassing. No excuse would cover for it.

"I don't go to college… if that's what you mean."

Sasuke made a soft humming sound. It wasn't much, but at least he wasn't insisting. There was nothing but music and Sasuke's still measuring gaze between them for a minute. Naruto debated on what to say, when someone pushed him a little from behind. Like they weren't already close enough.

"But you do?" he finally said.

Sasuke was too busy shifting his gaze to now evaluate Naruto's cloths instead of his face. "Was coming here a spur of a moment decision?"

"Sort of." And it was, because Sasuke didn't pencil in this occasion in his schedule. The bastard. "Am I standing out that much?"

"You are scaring people away."

Okay, he must be overdoing it. Naruto wasn't scaring anyone away.

"Why?"

"Because you don't look like you came here to get laid."

Well, he didn't. But the way Sasuke said that… like everyone could see it just glancing in his direction, that wasn't good. Besides, it probably meant Sasuke came here for the same reason and will eventually pick up one of all those people dancing around his table earlier. And that could be good or bad, depending on whom he'd pick up and where would they go.

"And that is frightening?"

"It's suspicious."

They suspected what- that he wasn't gay? Right. "Like you said. Spur of the moment thing. I'm just… exploring."

Sasuke prompted himself on the bar and leaned a bit closer, like he had something confidential to tell Naruto.

"It's not much exploring if you pick a spot and spend your night watching just one person."

Well, shit. It was either to admit he's working for Itachi or play really, really interested. Maybe Sasuke would just tell him to back off. Naruto allowed his best smirk to creep up his face and let his eyes linger lower, on Sasuke's lips and over his chest.

"I don't know," he murmured. "It has its merits."

Sasuke cocked his eyebrow, his hair for once out of his face. "You're not aiming high enough."

"I got a free drink," Naruto pointed out. His heart was beating too fast in his chest, which wasn't normal. He was usually good at this sort of thing, leading people on, acting. Naruto found his mouth too dry when Sasuke inched closer, and decided to blame it all on rustiness.

"Still not high enough."

_Would fucking you into that counter be high enough? _Naruto thought and he almost said it, too. "Maybe, but I was thinking of it more like… It's a good start."

"It was," Sasuke said. He was so close that when he leaned the remaining millimeter to press their mouths together, Naruto had no right to be shocked. He was, though. Sasuke retreated, but only a bit, to ask, "Okay?"

He was considerate about the entire 'my first time out' thing. Naruto licked his lips. He couldn't taste anything on them.

"Yeah," he breathed. When Sasuke leaned back in, he opened his mouth to accept the kiss.

There was something, something warning him off, but it was hard to think. Sasuke already had his hands up, one in Naruto's hair and the other just touching lightly his cheek. He was careful, trying not to scare him away- probably. When Naruto pressed back, the seeking quality tightened and Sasuke's mouth grew fierce and demanding.

Naruto blindly found the edge of Sasuke's belt and yanked him forward to cross over that one inch still between them. He let Sasuke huddle between his knees, one hand still on his belt, the other one keeping him in place. The angle was even better, position more intimate, the tongue in his mouth dizzyingly skillful… It was becoming really good, really fast.

There was a hand slipping down his back. Naruto almost missed it, busy between the kiss and Sasuke's other hand, fingers digging into his neck, but he had his gun under his jacket. They would probably get along much better if Sasuke didn't know about it.

Naruto loosened and ended the kiss as soon as he could, realizing yet again along the way that he was doing a really poor job that evening. It's one thing to kiss someone, a girl or a guy, if the position demanded it. It was completely different to do it with your eyes closed, one breath away from bending the guy over the counter, where everyone could watch.

Sasuke was flushed. He wasn't stepping away. His eyes were amused and focused, though. "You're doing well for your first night out."

"I always do well."

"Always? Should I take your word for it?" He shifted and Naruto looked down to see car keys in Sasuke's hand.

Naruto tried thinking about it outside his libido. Having Sasuke back home, where it was safer than here at least, would be very good. Having sex with him… not so much. It could get between Naruto's judgment and danger. Itachi probably wouldn't like it. But they were kissing just now. Going back home with Sasuke and then bolting out when it's too late for him to return here would be perfect.

If Karin didn't jump in the river before he managed to explain, that was.

Well, in for a penny… "No, you should let me prove it."

Sasuke smirked a little and stepped back. "Come on, then."

Naruto followed him closely out. Sasuke wasn't saying goodbye to his friends and he had keys already for his friend's car. Cocky little asshole. Naruto found himself smiling and shaking head. He was somewhat amused.

He couldn't help but tease, though. When they were in the car, he said, "Nice car. Yours?"

"Friend's." Sasuke answered.

"Someone's from your little group back inside?" Naruto asked. "How are they going home tonight?"

"On foot, if he doesn't get too drunk to walk. Why do you care?"

Naruto hid a smirk. That sounded more like Sasuke they all listened to 24/7 and rolled eyes at. Or maybe they were finally at a distance that was allowing him to appreciate the bite.

"I'm just asking questions while deciding if I'm insulted you had the keys on you before approaching me."

Sasuke took his eyes of the road to give him an unreadable look.

"Be flattered," he said finally.

Naruto smiled, indeed a little bit flattered.


	3. Ch2: So Clean an Ending

Part two

**So Clean an Ending**

(A. E. Housman)

* * *

Naruto wasn't comfortable. Sasuke didn't say anything about the van that was following them through almost empty streets, but he was looking back through the mirror much more often than it was normal. Naruto checked his phone several times, there was nothing on it. Karin must have planted a bug in the car while waiting.

Sasuke parked across from his place, right in front of the gate of the building the surveillance apartment was located in. It was almost as if he was doing it on purpose. Naruto glanced on where Karin was stopping at the corner and followed Sasuke across the street and inside. He was in the building before, on his first day on the job. He had to check on the possible entry and exit points, neighbors, things like that. He followed up the stairs as if he had no idea where he was anyway, not displeased at all about Sasuke's jacket being cut just low enough to allow him the perfect view.

Sasuke shot him a smirk when he turned left after the last stair and caught Naruto staring at his ass. Not embarrassed at all at that point, Naruto grinned and shrugged. He was enjoying himself _and_ doing his job. Win-win, right?

"Here," Sasuke announced, unlocking his door. He walked inside first, without bothering to check if Naruto was still following.

It was a small apartment, Naruto knew every corner of it by heart. The bedroom was right ahead, the living room double door on the left, connected to the tiny kitchen and the bathroom was through the door just to the right. Naruto quickly scanned what he could in the dark. Through the open double door and the windows of the living room, the view on the apartment across the street Naruto had spent a lot of his time lately was about as visible as Sasuke's place was from its window.

Naruto closed the door behind him and looked around for the switch. He had finally located it when Sasuke got a hold of his wrist to push it off.

"We don't need that," he murmured, already so close his lips were about to reach the skin low on Naruto's neck. They were warm and restless when they connected; Naruto let Sasuke lean both of them back against the door for a second before remembering, again, that he can't let it happen. He still had his gun on him. Quickly, he pulled his wrist out, used a small tripping trick to make Sasuke lose balance and turned him to reverse their positions. Caught by surprise, Sasuke ended up slammed against the door. There was some mild shock on his face, but also a lingering smirk. Naruto pressed himself closer.

He had to keep Sasuke's hands off himself, so he kept both of his wrists trapped against the door behind him. He made place for himself, pushing himself closer to bite and lick lower lip of Sasuke's half open mouth.

"You sure this is your first time?' Sasuke asked, almost gasped, breathless, arching a little to rub his impressively hard erection over Naruto's hip.

"First time doing what, exactly?" Naruto wondered. So he wouldn't have to answer, he kissed Sasuke fully. It worked well for shutting down the conversation; it worked even better to shut down Naruto's brain. Sasuke's movements were very limited, but even so, the pure wanton was flashing out of every little effort he was making to set himself free and thrust against Naruto while kissing back.

When Sasuke finally managed to mingle one wrist out, he put it instantly on Naruto's ass, turned a little and pressed them together. Naruto moaned into his mouth as heat rippled though his body. He barely recognized his own voice. He closed his eyes and thrust back harshly, making Sasuke let his head fall back and hit the wood. That left the soft, smooth skin of his neck exposed. Naruto licked it once, wet and long. he licked a second time, for a little longer and bit in softly, enjoying little startled gasps Sasuke was letting escape.

Then Sasuke moved his hand higher. It cleared Naruto's head somewhat. He pushed himself forcefully off until not only he was not touching Sasuke with any part of his body, but was far enough not to give in, simply say fuck it all and kiss him again. He was losing control too easily with this guy. There was just something about Sasuke that moved him in all the right ways. They had good chemistry, or whatever. But Naruto had to keep his head clear. He had a job to do.

"Er," he said, wondering what the hell he should say as Sasuke titled his head, still leaning against the door and, looking entirely too hot for his own good - literally. "A more comfortable place? Maybe a drink first?"

"What for?" Sasuke said, pushing himself off the door. The dryness of his voice was forced, but it was there, so Naruto sighed inwardly in relief. "You're not nervous."

"It would be a polite thing of you to offer," Naruto answered. They moved forward, to the living room. "And surely you don't want it to end that quickly?"

"Sit, then," Sasuke motioned toward the couch. He left the light in the living room off, but the one he turned on in the kitchen illuminated everything nicely. It gave the room a lovely, comfortable atmosphere. Naruto quickly took off his belt. He put jacket over the belt to hide it on the chair near the wall.

Catching a glance of the snake cage, he said loudly, because it was probably expected of him to mention something so unusual, "You have a… pet."

"I know," Sasuke answered. Naruto rolled his eyes, fortunately facing the wall. The steps announced Sasuke was coming back. "Here. I don't have alcohol."

He didn't have anything else either, it seemed, because the only thing he brought back was a glass of water. That wasn't exactly a surprise; he rarely had visitors. Naruto's throat felt like he swallowed a large slice of Sahara desert, so he took the glass with cubes of ice dancing in it gratefully.

Sasuke set down on the couch and watched him drain the liquid. "Anything else I can do to improve my hospitality? Are you hungry? Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"Er," Naruto answered. The bathroom was a good idea. It would make for a great stalling. "I _could_ use…"

Sasuke cut him off with an odd hiss and grabbed Naruto's shirt to pull him close. He was forceful so Naruto lost his balance, stumbled forward and had to keep himself from falling on top of Sasuke by bracing against the backrest. Sasuke, impatient and quick, pulled his hands up to thread through Naruto's hair and push him lower. It was a bad, bad idea to let himself get so close again, Naruto knew that, but Sasuke's eyes were half closed, his palms warm and the memory of his body moving against Naruto's potent, so he groaned in surrender and kissed back.

Slowly, lead by the fierce kiss, Naruto lowered himself on the couch. He put his right knee between Sasuke's legs and slipped his arm around Sasuke's waist, intent on pushing him on his back. Sasuke moved forward faster, thrusting against his thigh to find some friction.

"_God,_" Naruto gasped, jerking to ease the powerful wave of blissful want. Sasuke quirked his lips and pulled him along as he slid sideways the backseat to lie on the couch. Naruto followed, gratefully regaining full body on body contact.

Hands were under his shirt instantly, hot and impatient. Sasuke opened his legs slightly and slipped lower; Naruto's weight did the rest of the job, bringing them as close as possible together. Their cocks rubbed against each other again and just as Naruto's started thinking he really, really should find a way to get Sasuke out of his clothes, the front door clicked open.

He stilled and murmured, "You're expecting someone?"

Sasuke blinked up at him, frowning deeply despite the heavy panting. "What?"

Naruto rearranged himself to put a hand up, the only gesture he could come up with to demonstrate that Sasuke should be calm and silent. He whispered again, quietly but clearly. "Do you expect someone who has a key of your apartment?"

The doorknob was mechanical. They needed a key to open from the outside. Sasuke widened his eyes a friction and shook his head. At least he wasn't stupid. It was a nightmare trying to save lives of stupid people.

Naruto jerked them both off the couch to the floor, breaking the fall with his own back before he turned Sasuke around. "Don't move."

Sasuke made no effort to answer, but wasn't panicking or asking questions, either. It was as good as it could be expected. Naruto listened as the intruder gently opened one of the doors closer to the exit. Even soft, the steps were too heavy. It was definitely a male.

Naruto stood up quickly, to reach his jacket and the gun underneath. This crappy job was becoming really messy. Just as he got a solid grip on his gun, the phone in his other pocket went off. It vibrated against the wood of the chair, making a loud noise. The steps sped up; the intruder was already back in the hall. Naruto pointed his weapon, resisting the urge to curse.

He waited patiently, grateful Sasuke had couch between him and the door, and was smart enough to stay low. From somewhere behind him, outside, a loud explosion shook the ground and startled him. Naruto stooped, almost loosing eye contact with the doorway. But the blow wasn't even strong enough to break the window.

He refocused on the door.

A second later, a guy walked in with a weapon pointed in front of him. His gun had a silencer on it; it was a fucking _assassination_ - and why was Naruto so surprised? He shouldn't have been surprised, he should have been doing something. He aimed, and with the advantage of his more convenient position, fired first.

It seemed louder than ever, after many months of not using a gun. Naruto cringed. But he managed a solid hit - before he lowered his hand a little, the guy was clutching his arm, blood seeping through his fingers.

Naruto walked quickly to him, but Sasuke, who was closer, arrived there first. He grabbed the gun without hesitation and threw Naruto a glare, but he kept his mouth shut. The assassin had not moved or made a noise. He hadn't tried to call for help. Was he working alone? Or…?

The thought hitting his head like a hammer. Naruto ran to the window to look out. The explosion was in the apartment across the street. That was where Karin was supposed to be, wasn't it? She'd want visual. She'd go to the apartment straight up.

But maybe, maybe she was waiting in the van. They just got back; maybe she waited there so she could listen. It was possible.

Naruto just managed to comfort himself a little with the thought, when another explosion shook the neighborhood. He couldn't see that far left, just the flames, but he didn't need to see. That was the van. Not only very good assassins were sent to take down Sasuke, but they were doing a fine fucking job. It was very likely that Naruto would have been dead if Sasuke hadn't decided to go out that night – assuming they weren't in trouble because of it somehow.

It took him only several seconds to realize what was up, but he was slacking again. His job was Sasuke now, not Karin.

Naruto turned. Sasuke was doing very well, he realized. He had the assassin's gun pointed steadily at his head. It wasn't really a surprise, Sasuke _was_ Itachi's brother. The disturbing part was, the guy wasn't moving. He wasn't making any noise, even though a gun wound had to hurt a lot. He wasn't even sweating, like someone who was trying hard not to react to pain would. He was just staring back at Sasuke levelly.

Naruto's first instinct was to get the fuck out. But the shot was between two big explosions, so this man was likely not alone.

"You got any duct tape?"

Sasuke glanced at him. "Duct tape?"

_Now it's not the time for you to go stupid on me, Sasuke_. "Sticky ribbon, packed in a roll. Very useful for binding someone when in a hurry. You have some?

"Kitchen," Sasuke said, not moving. "Bottom drawer."

Well, as long as he was having fun. And not killing anyone. Naruto hurried to the small kitchen. The tape was exactly where Sasuke said it was. Naruto quickly used it to bind man's arms behind his back, not any less disturbed by the complete silence. The wound was a bloody mess, but this man was not working alone. Someone else triggered the bombs while he was busy in here. He would be found before he bled to death – but Naruto still ripped off a part of his black shirt and tied up his arm. He didn't want to become a murderer, damn it.

Sasuke still had the gun pointed and expression unchanged.

"You have disturbingly few questions," Naruto told him, gesturing them out.

Finally lowering the weapon he adopted, Sasuke answered, "I _have_ questions. Where are we going?"

"He's probably not alone," Naruto voiced his thoughts about that. Answering would take too much time. It was a little complicated. They had no time to chat. Readjusting the weapon in his hands, Naruto caught a quick glance Sasuke threw to the corner with the snake cage in it. It was kind of sweet of him to worry about his pet, but they really had to move.

"You'd better know what you're doing," Sasuke said flatly. He obviously realized that they had to go as well; he had stepped around and went for the hallway first. Naruto had to suppress the slightly annoyed '_you're leading the way, why would I have to know anything?_' and instead grabbed Sasuke's forearm to push him aside. The door was open, showing most of the hall empty - was that assassin in a hurry or what? Naruto had to check the corners as well, weapon pointed in front of him. It was safe.

"Stay close," he instructed without turning around. Sasuke didn't answer, but he followed Naruto out, closing the door behind him, and down the stairs. It was probably for the better not to run – and where were Sasuke's neighbors, anyway? Not even one door opened, although that shot must have been heard by most of the quart. They were either smart enough not to interfere or too busy wondering about the explosions – or possibly mistaking the shot for some delayed part of explosion.

Sasuke was following closely enough. On the ground floor, there were several people standing in and around the entrance, all looking at the building across the street. Naruto walked past them and took another flight of stairs down, to the basement.

Although there was a main path between the small rooms that were leading straight to a back exit, Naruto checked with the hands of his wrist watch which door led into a room that was looking at the side of the building. He tried several, but they were locked.

Luckily, Sasuke was without any instructions looking out up the stairs. His shoulders were tense, but he was holding his gun in front of him with both hands like he wasn't completely unfamiliar with it, so that was good. Naruto picked a door he was sure had to have one of those small windows looking at the side of the building, and used his shoulder to break in. It took three attempts and it _hurt_.

The window was high. He broke the glass with a ski pole he collected up from the top of a trunk and picked up a chair to reach it. While he was trying to clean out the remaining shatters, Sasuke asked from the doorway, "That's too high. Can we really go out that way?"

If they had no other options, they probably could. "We're not going though there. Stay close to the hall and tell me if someone's coming this way."

After a second of hesitation, a few steps announced that Sasuke listened. Naruto was grateful. He was doing his best, but in the short ten days he had spent following him around, he never got the impression that Sasuke was someone who'd easily take orders. He must have been thinking that Naruto knew what he was doing, or deserved a chance to prove it. Naruto hoped that he was right.

He pushed himself up, and through the window. It was maybe overdoing it, but it would be better for the pieces of the glass on the concrete path that was circling the entire building to look as if someone really took that way out. Naruto had no time to waste, so he went back through the window frame and jumped into the room.

He wasn't too surprised to see Sasuke back at the door, and he couldn't help but smirk at the short-lived glint of relief he caught. "Let's go."

"Where?" Sasuke asked, but he followed.

"There is an apartment on the ground floor that is empty at this hour." Naruto was walking, but not too fast. He won't have time to explain once they start climbing the stairs. "The owner is working nights. We're going there."

Sasuke halted. "In _this_ building?"

"Hurry," Naruto ordered. When Sasuke didn't move, he reached and grabbed his forearm, forgetting for a moment that while he had his gun on his waistband, Sasuke had a weapon in his hand. He was reminded of it, forced to look into the silencer from the wrong side, and gritted his teeth in annoyance before answering. "It's the last place they are going to look in, especially with two explosions in the neighborhood. Police will be everywhere."

"Then I should go to them and tell them I was attacked," Sasuke lowered his gun a little, and Naruto took it as an invitation to drag him.

"You can do that or whatever else you wish after I make sure no one will try to kill you as soon as you show your nose outside."

Fortunately, Sasuke decided to play along. Naruto could hear him walking next to him. He took his keys out in front of the right door and used the master key on them. The hall was completely empty, all people in the entrance had moved further outside. Naruto felt that this was a very lucky evening for him as he pushed Sasuke inside and closed the door.

"Where did you get the key for this apartment?" Sasuke asked in the darkness. From the outside came the dancing police car lights, followed by the siren. Feeling safe in the unlit inside, Naruto stepped a little deeper into the room to take a careful look outside.

"The same key opens the door of every apartment in the building," he finally answered. It was too crowded outside too see anything useful.

Instead of taking a chair or the comfortable looking couch, when Naruto turned to him, Sasuke was sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall right next to the door frame. It was as good of a place as any; Naruto decided and mimicked him. He chose to sit down against the wall on the other side of the door.

"What kind of key is that?" Sasuke asked after a minute.

"It's not the key that's special, it's the locks. They all have double mechanisms. It's how most of the buildings are made lately."

Steps passed through the hall outside, followed by excited voices. Naruto was leaning his head on the wall behind him, cocked just enough to watch Sasuke's face with moving patterns from the lights outside.

The silence brought back thoughts about Karin. Was she dead? Hurt? Naruto couldn't do anything. To chase the guilt away, he opened his mouth, "I work for your brother."

"I figured," Sasuke answered.

_Before or after you picked me up in the bar?_ Naruto wanted to know. He shouldn't ask, though. He should make it clear that it was all just so he could make sure Sasuke was alright.

"You left your watch behind. The jacket with the tracker, too. We had no choice but to follow you."

Sasuke looked up to meet his eyes and asked - instead of answering. "Why are you working for my brother, Naruto? When I met Sakura last year, she said you were in college."

Well. Okay. He shouldn't really be surprised. He would have recognized Sasuke if he saw him somewhere on the street by accident. They were around twelve when they lived in the same neighborhood, not two. For some reason, it made him feel very embarrassed and somehow shocked. Sakura had never mentioned she saw Sasuke.

"I needed the money," Naruto answered after clearing his throat. "I really needed the money."

Outside, the firefighters finally arrived. It was at least ten minutes since the explosions. They were too fucking late to do anything if someone was stuck inside. Naruto gritted his teeth and walked to the window. In front of the building, everything was a mess. The ashes were still flying. Something must have caught fire. People were standing around, a lot of them in their night clothes. There were police sirens, and two fire trucks. It was a good moment to move.

"Let's go," he said. Sasuke got up, and Naruto only then noticed that his feet were bare. When he had managed to get out of his shoes? When the hell he had managed to get out of his _socks_? And how Naruto managed to miss that until now? "Er. You can't go outside barefoot."

Sasuke glanced at his feet as if wondering what Naruto was talking about. He dryly said, "I wasn't expecting I'd have to run from the assassins tonight, sorry."

Naruto dashed to the hallway. He opened the shoe holder there and got out a pair. "Try these."

Sasuke, who followed, made a face on the ugly pair of brown summer shoes but he took them anyway. They were way, way too small. Naruto cursed. They had to go back up. _He_ had to get up. "Stay here. I will be back in a minute."

The hallway was empty again, thank God. Naruto hurried over it and up the stairs, taking his key out. It was a stupid, stupid detour. Not everyone was busybodies, someone was probably still in their apartment….

Sasuke's door was marked with a yellow police tape. Like a crime scene. What the fuck…?

Naruto had no time to wonder. Sasuke would walk barefoot if he had to. The police and the ambulance just got there and they were not parked near their building; how come the door of Sasuke's apartment was already closed and sealed off? They would have heard if it was too soon. But someone obviously got there, only Naruto was pretty sure it wasn't the police but whoever was working with the assassin he wounded. He spun around and ran back.

"Take his slippers if nothing else will fit," he said, breathless from running up and down the stairs. "We are getting out of here now."

Sasuke, to his credit, listened without hesitation. He asked while taking the slippers out, "What happened?"

"Your place is marked a crime scene."

Sasuke paused to glance up. "But no cops in the building?"

"No."

"They're trying to keep civilians at bay."

"I know. Come on," that was a possibility. Another one would be a cop walked in quietly to check things up, found the assassin killed and sealed off the door until he could come back. Only Naruto knew he didn't kill that guy.

Sasuke straightened. Fluffy brown slippers looked ridiculous with the rest of his – rather wrinkled – outfit. He nodded, and Naruto opened the door behind him. When the cold wind lifted his shirt, he realized that he forgot his jacket in Sasuke's apartment. His phone, too. If it really was the police – or if the police came later, he could get in a lot of trouble.

But, well. He had the license to work in security – because Jiraiya made him get one while he was helping on a case - and that guy had walked in with a gun pointed at them. Besides, there was nothing to identify him there. He long since stopped taking his papers out with him.

"I left everything back at yours," Naruto said when they turned to exit Sasuke's street. He lived on the other side of the city, they couldn't walk in just their shirts that far. The night was cold. "Do you have any money?"

Sasuke reached for his pocket and nodded. "Where are we going?"

"My place." Because where else, really? He had no idea how to contact Itachi. He didn't really want to try with Sasuke around. From everything Itachi had said when hiring Naruto, it was likely that he wasn't… well. And his job was to keep Sasuke safe. For that, his apartment was the best option.

They stopped a taxi and Naruto gave him his address. They were lucky the guy driving was a quiet type, Naruto was sure he would ask about the explosions. He didn't.

Sasuke was shaking a little next to him on the backseat. His shirt was really thin. Naruto wanted to try and warm him up, but… Ah, it wasn't a good idea to do that. Not after the way they started the evening.

"You okay?" He couldn't help but ask, leaning closer. Sasuke lifted his left shoulder a little, as if he was trying to make an obstacle between them without taking his hand out of his pockets.

"Fine," he said, looking straight forward.

Naruto sighed and leaned back. It was luck he was at Sasuke's when it all happened, but he went too far. He was supposed to back out when they arrived. Now things between them would be tense; not least because Naruto was barely managing to keep his hands off Sasuke.

In front of Naruto's building, Sasuke paid for the ride and looked up, with an eyebrow up, "This is where you live?"

It was a good part of the downtown city. The building was one of those old, ornamented ones, with the view over the river and high ceilings. It was expensive. It was all Naruto had left from his parents.

"Not for much longer," he said, some sadness escaping even in that situation. "Come on."

The porter was asleep in his cube, as always. Naruto was grateful he kept his keys on him. The stairwell was spiral and wide open.

Sasuke turned to the elevator, but Naruto grabbed his elbow. "You don't want to be in that death box if someone followed us."

He yanked, but Sasuke was too busy frowning at Naruto's hand to give in. He forced his arm out before staring to climb the stairs. Naruto sighed and followed, regretting again he let things slip out of his control back as Sasuke's. That little - incident was not promising any fun in making sure Sasuke was alright.

On the second floor, Sasuke finally halted and glanced back with a frown. Naruto passed him – there was no one following, not closely, anyway. He was looking carefully.

"On what floor do you live?" Sasuke asked when Naruto started the next flight of stairs, close behind.

"Third."

"That doesn't sound particularly practical. Or safe."

Of course, Sasuke was right. It didn't sound particularly practical, or safe. Naruto grinned back at him. "That's just because third floor apartments are not typically redecorated by my mother."

Sasuke didn't answer, and Naruto was not waiting to see the reaction. He wasn't that stupid, to take someone who was in danger to a place that was risky. The apartment was redecorated by his mother when Naruto was in his early teens. Someone had tried to take revenge or something at her after she did the job successfully – Naruto was fuzzy on the details, but he knew she got some threatening phone calls that got him some off days from school – and she panicked. Jiraiya still snickered when he would remember how scared and freaked and how much money she had spent to make that apartment very, very safe to live in.

He didn't want to let go of the apartment. It was the second place he lived at in the city and the only one that ever felt like real home.

He unlocked, and after glancing up and down the hall once more, walked in first. Just in case, he checked around before gesturing for Sasuke to follow. Naruto locked behind them, feeling muscles in his back unknotting, shoulders relaxing. Things were alright. If he made it home, everything was surely alright.

He wasn't even aware that he was smiling until he caught Sasuke watching him, eyes narrowed.

"It doesn't look very safe to me," he said when Naruto did his best to flatten his face. "It's just an apartment. There must be a better place to hide than this."

Naruto pushed off the door, where he leaned in unconsciously, "I'd say a prison cell would probably be about as safe, but you're too pretty. This is better."

"A carton box on the corner would be safer than this," Sasuke answered, showing neither amusement nor offense.

"Are you hungry?" Naruto asked to cut off the useless and uninteresting conversation. "I'm starving."

On the table – one of the rare furniture pieces that was left unsold – there were clean cloths, neatly packed. The smell of fresh softener was pleasant and Naruto inhaled deeply as he picked up the note left on top.

_Do not dare call me until you are ready to tell me where you disappear all the time. I am out of patience._

"Girlfriend?"

Naruto jolted, unprepared to hear Sasuke talk so close. He was looking over Naruto's shoulder at the note, and Naruto could almost swear that he was so close in purpose, to distract him or something.

"Just Sakura," he explained and moved away quickly. His cheeks were warm, and all Sasuke did was get close – not even _too_ close. Granted, the things that happened earlier were hot as shit, but it was about time Naruto pulled himself together. His job was to keep Sasuke safe. And while when he let the thing at the bar slip out of his control the threat was only hypothetical, now someone was actually trying to kill Sasuke. There was no place for mistakes.

What Naruto wanted to do the most was take a long shower, but he couldn't do that until he was absolutely sure everything was alright. He turned on the extremely expensive surveillance system on the control panel near the door. Four small monitors allowed him a great view on the all strategic places of the apartment and the entire building. Everything seemed in perfect order, so Naruto took his shoes and socks off. The floor was cold under his feet, but at the moment, it felt good.

In the meantime, by the sound of running water, Sasuke had found the bathroom. Naruto located a pair of unpacked socks in one of the drawers in his room and left it where Sasuke wouldn't be able to miss them. His toes must have been frozen like fish-sticks.

In the kitchen, Naruto was preparing sandwiches when Sasuke walked in.

"What happened to your furniture?"

Seems it was the questions time. At least Sasuke was starting off easy.

"I told you I needed money."

"What for? Drugs?'

Well… "Yes, actually."

Sasuke, who leaned on the counter so he could see Naruto's face as he answered, frowned. "My brother would not hire you if you were a drug addict. Try again."

That much was the truth, but it wasn't Naruto's fault Sasuke had formulated that question awkwardly. "Among other stuff, like hospital stay and alternate food, I'm afraid that I really had been wasting all my money on drugs until your brother had made his offer."

Sasuke paused just for a second, before he stated, "Someone is sick."

"You remember my godfather, Jiraiya?" Naruto asked. It was possible, Jiraiya was always spending great amount of time with them, wherever they were living. "A lot of hair and…"

"I remember when he gave you that magazine."

Naruto grinned, stopping in the middle of cutting cheese to look up at Sasuke. He almost forgot about that. Jiraiya gave him his first porn, a magazine with a lot more text than he thought necessary and not quite enough pictures. Naruto bragged about it and showed it to the first person his age he saw that day – and that was Sasuke. No wonder he was running like hell to save Itachi's life when he was sharing his first porn with the guy's little brother. "That was fun."

Sasuke smirked, keeping Naruto frozen with the wicked glint in his eyes and cocked his head a little, "Only after I noticed how much fun you were having."

His soft, silky voice made Naruto curl his toes to suppress the shiver. With memories of Sasuke's body against his, of his mouth, of everything that had happened not an hour ago, it was really hard to break the eyes contact and continue with his work, but Naruto managed it. He tried to focus, but he had to give up on the cheese. His hands were shaky. He was not good at restraining himself from having something that he wanted and so obviously could have.

"So Jiraiya is sick. Wasn't he running a security agency of some sort? How come you have to pay all the bills?"

Grateful they were talking about the things Naruto knew how to evade and deal with, he answered, "What does it matter? The point is, I needed the money. Your brother needed one more person for the small team… Shit."

"What?"

But Naruto was already wiping his hands and walking to one of those handy untraceable cell phones Jiraiya insisted him to use all the time. Even though the idea was to call and check in with the last two members of the team, Naruto dialed Karin first. Robotic voice informed him that she's unavailable, so Naruto swallowed the bile that arose with yet another sign that she was most likely dead and dialed the next number.

Sasuke was leaning on the doorway, watching him silently.

"Hallo?" A female voice answered, with a soft sobbing hitch at the end.

Naruto closed his eyes, as if to cloak the bad feeling out. He said, "Hi. May I speak with Juugo please?"

"This is his phone," she answered after a short pause. "But who is that?"

"A coworker."

"Ah," she stiffened a sob and finally told him, in snappy, hurt tone. "My brother is dead. I don't know what kind of work he was doing, but it couldn't have been anything good, because he was shot like a dog in the middle of the street."

Juugo was Naruto's favorite on the team. He was quiet, despite of having the reputation for being extremely violent. Naruto had wished more than once he had been paired with him.

"He wasn't doing anything bad," Naruto told Juugo's sister, because she seemed to think he was some kind of criminal.

"Got him killed anyway," she said and hanged hung up.

Unfortunately, that made sense. Naruto talked to Juugo just that – no, the previous afternoon, it was the middle of the night already, when they switched shifts. He had died somewhere after six pm and with the way people after Sasuke cleaned out the apartment and the van with bombs… There was little chance it was because of something else.

Naruto quickly dialed the last number. Nothing, like with Karin's.

"There were four of you?" Sasuke asked after a second, when Naruto was returning to the kitchen.

"Yeah. It seems it's just me, now," Naruto looked at the sandwiches, and made a face. "I've lost my appetite."

Sasuke didn't lose his, so he took a plate Naruto left nearby and picked up one. There was no table in the kitchen any longer, so Naruto followed when Sasuke went back to the living room to sit and eat.

After several minutes of Naruto trying very hard not to think about if they all were really dead, Sasuke said, "From what, exactly, have my brother hired you to protect me?"

Naruto sighed. The lack of answered questions was coming back to bite him in the ass. "He said that it's nothing specific. Just a precaution, until he takes care of important business."

Sasuke gave him an incredulous stare. "And you believed him?"

"Not really. I figured, he must be after revenge or something." Sasuke's expression flattened instantly, all the emotion disappeared from his face like wiped off. Naruto wanted to groan. They were not in talking terms, were they? So Sasuke didn't know that Itachi was attacked. "I mean, he knew I'm not doing the security professionally, I just helped out my Godfather on occasion. If it was something so serious, he would have found someone with more experience, especially for the price he was paying."

Itachi was not a fool. And he loved his brother, if he bothered in the first place. But he must have been attacked all the time, with his position. Naruto wasn't thinking much about it, after all, he was there when that attempt happened, so he assumed… He felt very stupid.

"Revenge for what?" Sasuke gritted out, ignoring everything else Naruto had said.

Well, he wasn't a kid. He could take it. "Someone tried to kill him behind one of his clubs several weeks ago."

"And he told you about it?"

"No, I happened to be there."

Sasuke pushed the plate away, half of the sandwich uneaten. Apparently, he had lost his appetite as well. "Was he hurt?"

"A little squashed, maybe." Okay, _probably_. Naruto really wasn't a lightweight. "But fine. He was definitely alright the next day."

Sasuke was watching him carefully, his expression still unreadable.

"You happened to be there," he repeated. "And then he found you the next day. I'll take it you saved his life and left him impressed."

Uncomfortable under the level stare, Naruto grinned. "Well, he gave me a candy bar once. What was I supposed to do, let him die?"

Sasuke didn't move a muscle on his face, he was just staring. Was that some weird way of saying thank you, Naruto wondered. When he got no acknowledgment of any sort, he said, "Well, you should try to get some sleep now. Just wait until I take a quick shower, okay?"

The shower he took was really, really fast. Just in case, Sasuke would not be able to learn how to work the security system even if Naruto took some time to show him; the thing was a moody, complicated fucker. Wearing fresh clothes from the bunch Sakura had left and warmed up under the spray of warm water, Naruto was feeling a little bit better when he walked out.

"I noticed," Sasuke said, in that same lifeless tone Naruto learned to hate after only several sentences. "That there is only one bed in this house."

That was the truth. There was only the bed Naruto was sleeping on left. He even sold the couch. "Don't worry. You are the only one who will be sleeping tonight."

Sasuke just nodded, like he was expecting as much. "I have to take a shower, too."

Naruto nodded at the pile. "You can have whatever you can use, I have nothing else to offer you right now."

"It'll do," Sasuke said and took some stuff. Naruto used the time he was in the bathroom to check if Sakura had changed the sheets – she did, so it was okay. Sasuke left his shirt on the nightstand and the gun he took from the assassin on top of it. Naruto took his with him in the bathroom earlier and just moved it, regretting the loss of his favorite belt, to the fresh pair of jeans. He pulled out his father's belt from the closet, it was one of the things he couldn't get rid off easily. It was very practical, made of hard leather with holes, pockets and hooks for all kinds of things.

He had to check on the gun Sasuke had picked up. It was a 9mm Beretta, Naruto saw as much. He needed to see about ammunition, because he had no spare. His own Glock was .45, much bigger caliber – though, like every Glock, it was much lighter.

The gun was perfectly maintained. Naruto took off the silencer, it was hardly necessary for self-defense and it made the gun less portable.

"The bed _is_ big enough," Sasuke said from somewhere near the open door. Naruto opened his eyes, realizing that he was sitting at the edge on the mattress, holding his head in his hands.

He stood up. "No."

He would have said more, maybe, how he wasn't really tired, just drained emotionally, or something. But Sasuke was wearing nothing but Naruto's old but clean ash gray sweatpants, still wet here and there and so it would be better if he got out instantly. Before doing something completely unreasonable, like lick all those water drops off Sasuke before throwing him on the bed.

But as he was passing next to him, Sasuke said through clenched teeth, even though his expression was just as flat as it was ever since he found out that Itachi was in danger, "Or just take the fucking bed."

Naruto stopped, one hand clutching at the door frame. Damn it. Sasuke seemed to think that Naruto won't sleep in bed because of him. Granted, it would not be recommendable, but it wasn't the same as _not want to_.

"When I said the apartment was safe, I didn't mean that it's impenetrable. I have to stay awake until I can get you somewhere where you really are going to be safe."

Sasuke looked away. "That might take a while."

"It might," Naruto admitted, ignoring the dry, insulting tone and moved again. "But despite of everything your brother had said, I know very well what this job is and how much can it cost and I said yes anyway. So I'll do what I have to."

Sasuke was not looking at him when Naruto closed the door behind him. He had to make plans. He needed to find Kakashi and that wouldn't be easy.

Fortunately, Naruto knew just where to start.


	4. Ch3: Those Clouds, When They Announce

Part Three

**Those Clouds, When They Announce a Storm**

(Unknown)**  
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* * *

To keep himself awake, Naruto turned the television on. He kept the volume on the low, even though the walls of the apartment were thick and there was no way he'd wake up Sasuke, who was sleeping in his bedroom. For the last four hours, Naruto had been trying to think up what he should do. He had protected people whose lives were in danger before but he had never been so alone in doing it. There had always been Jiraiya and the secure safe haven of the agency and the mass of its employees. Now, Naruto did have a few people he could ask for help… And those were the same people he could have asked for help when Jiraiya went to the hospital, only this was different. This wouldn't be begging for money and he knew that he would be able to repay them later.

The best way was to find the Shelter first and ask Iruka how to get in contact with Kakashi, and then he could make Kakashi find Itachi and see what was going on. Depending on if Itachi was still alive, he would make further plans. Naruto had promised he'd protect Sasuke and he had every intention of keeping his word. He just had no idea how to do that, exactly.

Yet.

Sometime around dawn, Naruto finally stumbled on the news on some channel. He was watching half-heartedly until a familiar face popped up. Stunned, Naruto tuned it up and watched with his eyes wide.

The news was saying that the police was suspecting and looking for Sasuke Uchiha, age 22 – younger brother of the owner of a well-known chain of clubs with a shady background – for setting off two bombs in his neighborhood and killing a police officer in his apartment! They showed Sasuke's picture and then a snapshot of Naruto's head, the one from the fake ID he had in the wallet he had forgotten at Sasuke's place. He was not a suspect, but the police suspected, as the reporter said, that he might be a victim or a hostage.

Sasuke hadn't killed anyone. And the guy Naruto had been shooting at was an assassin, not a police officer. But people who were after Itachi were obviously well-connected in the city. Sasuke – and Naruto, too - was in a hell of a lot of trouble, God only knew why.

They had to move. Naruto had left his fingerprints all over the duct tape he had used to tie that guy with; it was a matter of time until the police would have his identity. They'd come right to his apartment then, and Naruto had to take Sasuke away until he managed to figure out what the hell happened and how to fix it.

He almost ran across the room to the bedroom.

"Sasuke!" he yelled, opening the door. "We have to go!"

The way Sasuke shot up had to hurt, it was so fast. Naruto blinked at his figure in the dark, grabbing for clothes. He had exaggerated the hurry a little, perhaps.

"Er. I mean, get ready. We were on TV."

Sasuke froze for a moment before reaching to turn on the lamp. The light, blue-gray from the lampshade, illuminated his face, half-turned in the other direction just well enough for Naruto to see anger in his eyes.

"So it _was_ the police," Sasuke said, in a voice rough from sleep. Busy wondering if he was planning to put something over his sleeveless shirt that wasn't covering much and when exactly, Naruto had no idea what he meant for a second.

"Yeah," he said, only to realize again how fucked up it all was. The police couldn't have gotten to Sasuke's apartment at such short notice, finish the crime scene processing and wrap everything up. It had to be a way for the people behind it to keep the neighbors out. Right? "No. I don't know."

"You don't know?" Sasuke said, his voice a tense cord on the edge of snapping. "You said my apartment was secured as a crime scene. And now I am on television."

"If it was the police, they would've had someone in the hallway; people would be walking in and out of your place. There was no one there!" It wasn't doing any good; Sasuke was just watching him with angry, hard eyes. "Just get dressed. We have to go."

"'_We_' don't have to do anything," Sasuke finally snapped. "I made a mistake. I will now go to the police, as I should have done in the first place."

"Yeah, well," Naruto said, picking up the long sleeved shirt Sasuke had folded on the nightstand and throwing it to him. "Sure, if you want to end up in prison forever. You are a wanted criminal now."

Sasuke caught the shirt and said while dressing, "I haven't done anything. I will explain what happened. And you will come with me to confirm it. Then you can get as fucking far away from me as possible and stay there."

That hurt like shit, but Naruto caught himself in time, just before calling Sasuke a very ugly name. Instead, he gritted out, "They said that you killed a cop in your apartment, set off bombs in your neighborhood and probably took me hostage."

"_What?_"

"So take what you need with you, I know someone with connections everywhere and we have to find him, preferably before I become a wanted criminal as well."

It would be awfully hard to move around the city if they kept showing Sasuke's wanted warrants in the news. Not too many people watch television in the neighborhood Naruto was heading for, but you never know.

"You were the one who killed him."

Sasuke had put on old jacket that once belonged to Naruto's father and had hung in the closet for years and put the gun in a pocket. Naruto, who hadn't been able to bear the thought of either wearing it or giving it away for years, felt oddly undisturbed by the sight.

He was getting very annoyed, though. Sasuke should have his mouth taped shut or something.

"He wasn't dead. And he was not a fucking cop - he unlocked your door, searched the apartment room by room without announcing himself in any way and had a silencer on his gun! That is not a normal police officer behavior by any standards!"

On the other hand, his weapon was 9mm Beretta… But just because that was used by police, it didn't mean no one else used that type.

Sasuke stepped closer to the door. "What if he was incompetent? It was an accident, we can explain that. Do you have the license for doing security?"

Naruto ignored the question, because Sasuke just wasn't listening. It was like he was talking to a wall. "He wasn't dead. We stopped the bleeding and the wound was on his arm, where there are no internal organs. I did not kill that guy and if he was a cop - which he was _not_ – that would mean that who ever has it against you will not be satisfied to just send you to jail. They want you so dead, that your brother would be happy if he could find your bare bones to bury."

Naruto realized that his rant was maybe a little bit too descriptive when Sasuke glanced back at him. They were in the hall, close to the front door already. The light was weak, but enough to see how pale Sasuke's face was.

"But they can't just announce that a cop is dead," he said, ignoring the apologetic look Naruto gave him. "Reporters would be asking for the name, digging up thing for 'in memoriam' specials."

"Well…" Naruto said, picking up things he had packed earlier. "Then they killed a cop and put his corpse in your apartment."

"Or that guy _was_ a cop."

Naruto growled, letting go of the shoelaces he was trying to tie to glare up at Sasuke. "Damn it, Sasuke, he wasn't a…"

"_Think,_" Sasuke interrupted. "There are different units in the police; he could have been some kind of special force or something. On a mission. Why would someone drag a real cop and take unnecessary risks when they already had a wounded man sitting there and waiting to be a sacrifice? It doesn't make any sense."

No, it really wasn't making any sense. "It makes sense if a cop walked in on him and he and his buddies killed him – removing the witness and making sure you are in shit up to your nose."

"Stop making up things," Sasuke said, sharply but… calmer, somehow. "People don't make it to the news in a matter of hours as wanted for killing and setting off bombs just because a dead cop was found in their apartment." _That rather depend on the last name in some cases_, Naruto had the time to think before Sasuke continued. "They have no reason to think I did anything. They have no weapon, no witnesses, no evidence. Or at least, not real evidence."

"I'm not stupid," Naruto growled. "I know what you are getting at, but I won't believe the police set you up – why would they do that?"

"To get to Itachi," Sasuke tested.

"To get to the brother you are not speaking with and have no idea where he is, they will make you spend your life in prison by _killing one of their own men_," Naruto voiced incredulously. The truth was… he could see it. They didn't have to actually kill anyone, just say that they were dead. If Itachi really was that important to the police, he could imagine that they had decided to take unorthodox steps and make sure Sasuke was in so much trouble, Itachi had to show interest and expose himself. But that didn't explain why Naruto's team had been wiped out. "Not to mention the people working with me. Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Not if they are not really dead. If it were all staged," Sasuke said, without much hope. They were straying into uncertainties now, arguing hypothetical situations. Thinking that no one was actually dead was just wishful thinking, and Naruto didn't even have to look up at Sasuke to know that he didn't believe it, either. But he looked up anyway, which caused Sasuke to snap again. "Do you need help with those shoelaces?"

Naruto had been distracted by talking and listening, and Sasuke had a point, he was slow… But the guy was such a fucking bastard. Very unprofessionally, Naruto snapped, "Oh, fuck off," and finished the job quickly. At some point, Sasuke had put on an older pair of Naruto's shoes. Naruto didn't see exactly when that happened, so he might have been sleeping in them after walking around as good as barefoot outside in the cold earlier that evening.

Naruto stood up and checked the security system, just like he did every time he was heading out. It was a four-monitor surveillance system with a channel control; it was working perfectly, showing relatively clear pictures of all the key spots in and outside of the building. It was all clean, as it should be at that hour. The hallways were empty, all the rooms showed on the tiny screens… It was _too_ empty, Naruto thought, edgy. Rationally it should be, but something was setting off his inner alarms, so he kept looking for several more seconds, before he saw it.

The porter was not in his stall. It was a small thing; the guy could be in the bathroom or out, taking a break… But it was too cold. If he was, he'd soon be running back to the comfortable little room that looked out at the lobby through a huge window, where the heater was still on.

"Are we going?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head and waited, staring at four little screens alternately. After several long minutes of ignoring Sasuke's impatience and the way he was leaning to look for himself, a movement on a different screen caught Naruto's eye - the screen that was showing the floor his apartment was in. A moment later, two men with heavy equipment silently crossed the hallway, weapons in their hands. Their appearance reminded Naruto forcefully of the guy they left behind at Sasuke's.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm. He whispered, "We'll be using the shortcut after all."

Sasuke glanced behind them, where the hall became the living room, as if he was expecting those people to teleport there. He nodded, so Naruto turned to the kitchen.

He let his backpack slide down the remodeled garbage opening first and motioned for Sasuke to go next. He got an incredulous look in response, so Naruto grabbed his arm and pushed him to hurry. It was bad, he had to send Sasuke first even though he couldn't be sure that that the landing place – behind the building, near the building's dumpster – was as clean as it was while he was looking at the screens. But he _knew_ that there was a danger from this side, so it was the best he could manage.

Sasuke wasn't complaining any longer. He quickly climbed and let himself slide in with one last glance at Naruto and the apartment. Naruto had to wait a little so he wouldn't end up on top of Sasuke's head… But he could clearly hear the door being broken in. He waited as long as he could, but the first thing that entered after the heavy wood busted open was a hand grenade.

Naruto let himself slide down the shaft. The ride was fast, the descent was sharp and he was blinded for a moment, trying to find the ground with his feet before he was ready for it. Still disoriented, Naruto wasn't completely sure if the bomb went off already - or even if the filling in the grenade was explosive and not chemical - but he grabbed Sasuke, who was picking up his backpack and pushed him to the ground.

As if in direct response, the explosion sent a wave of shattered glass over them. Explosive after all. _For a single hand grenade, that was too fucking much_, Naruto was thinking. At the same time, he was trying to make Sasuke stop moving and let himself be protected. Naruto was fully on top of him, acting as a shield.

It surprised him when he felt Sasuke's arms moved up… and cross over his head. Naruto had used his body many times to protect people before, but never someone had tried to protect him in turn.

Warm from the thought, Naruto automatically moved upward as soon as the glass stopped falling on them. He wasn't hurt. From the look of it, neither was Sasuke. It was dumb luck, nothing else. Naruto pulled him up, not missing it when Sasuke gave him a mirroring, searching look.

There was no one in the alley but them. It made sense; that was why the exit was made to lead there. No back door on that side of the building meant no signs of precaution from those invading.

The next building had a basement looking that way, so Naruto broke the glass and they walked though it. He knew the neighborhood very well, all the buildings nearby; it was easy to slip, with Sasuke close by, though familiar hallways and alleys. They stopped after a good fifteen minutes, just under the open flight of stairs that lead to a lower level, closer to the water channel. There were some trees around, but it wasn't a real park. It was a place people came to learn how to ride a bike, that sort of thing. On the higher lever, there was a lot of open space.

"You okay?" Naruto asked when he got his voice back. Sasuke was leaning on the concrete wall that surrounded the stairs, hands in his pockets. He seemed to have caught his breath quicker than Naruto, which, even though a little annoying, was also a good thing. At least Naruto wouldn't have to drag him around.

"Fine. Now what?"

As an answer of sorts, Naruto took out one of the cell phones from the pocket of the backpack he brought along, and paper and pen. The thing was completely clean, as if just out of the factory. All the important numbers were in Naruto's head. He dialed up the phone booth in an alley away from the biggest city shelter for homeless people. It rang until the connection broke and no one picked it up.

"Who are you calling?" Sasuke asked.

"I just need some information," Naruto answered, dialing the same number again. Someone fortunately picked up this time.

"_Hallo? Who's there_?" The voice said, sounding old and slurred. Some drunk, no doubt. Even with the shelter so close, some people preferred to sleep outside. There was always someone - the reporters, private detectives, cops; they were always looking for someone, or something, and so the shelters, while offering beds and food, allowed no discretion. But behind the large kitchens there were always good spots to find some rest, it was warm and you could always find some food in the trash.

"Good morning!" Naruto said, feigning cheerfulness for kicks. "Could you please read me the numbers that are written in red on the right side from the phone?"

"_Who's there? Are you messing with me_?"

_Yeah, like I would tell you if I was_, Naruto thought. "I wrote there a number of a girl I want to take out on a date," he explained. "I didn't have any paper when she gave it to me. Please, sir, could you just read it? It's really important."

The man on the other side didn't answer, but he didn't hang up, either. Naruto's eyes darted from Sasuke to the top of the stairs and back. Sasuke was watching him carefully, with some amusement.

"_On the right?"_ The man on the other side muttered.

"Yeah. Please?" Naruto repeated. Some luck was with him after all, the man read the numbers and Naruto wrote them down. He cut off the connection. It was in the simplest of all codes, letters were replaced with the corresponding number in the alphabet. The only slightly tricky thing was to determine if one or two numbers made a letter, because they were just listed, without any interruption between them.

Naruto was on the forth or fifth letter, when Sasuke – who leaned over his shoulder to see – read an address aloud. "Where is that?"

"No idea," Naruto answered, and continued to count, as Sasuke took the phone out of his hands. It wasn't exactly that he didn't think Sasuke would be able to find it before him; he just wanted to be sure. But the numbers matched up, leaving the two last ones to mark the house. Or building, whatever.

In the meantime, Sasuke had called information service. He asked for the street they had decoded and someone on the other side explained to him where it was. Naruto waited, thinking back when he had to take Jiraiya's place and watch over the old Mayor's grandson, Konohamaru. For some reason, people tended to be very passive once they allowed themselves into the hands of a bodyguard. It was as if they could just turn their brains off. When they were not actively doing everything exactly opposite from what Naruto thought they should, then they were walking dolls.

Maybe because Naruto had been on Konohamaru's tail for many months, it was easy work. Konohamaru seemed to feel guilty for being the target – there was a leaked rumor that he would be kidnapped so his grandfather would sign something – so even though he refused to change his - for someone his age very inappropriate - lifestyle, Konohamaru had done all that was possible to actively help Naruto. He had offered information without being prompted and went along with Naruto's crazy ideas of alternative entrances to the places he insisted on going to. He took it all as one big adventure.

What Sasuke was doing now was actively taking over. No one Naruto was protecting ever did that. The easiest of them, like Konohamaru, would maybe – _maybe_ – ask if they should ask for information, looking for the assurance that the phone was safe, or that calling the information service was a good idea. Sasuke was calling without consulting Naruto, and Naruto was pretty sure that it wasn't because he was being an ass, but because he knew that the phone was as safe as possible and the service was a place where thousands of calls arrived each hour.

It was making Naruto feel a little bit better about the situation. At least he was not with a useless marionette. That way, if his constant fear of forgetting something of vital importance came true, then maybe Sasuke would catch it before it was too late.

It felt almost – not quite, but almost – like team work.

On the empty street at the top of the staircase, two cars stopped suddenly from a great speed. The cry of the tires was startlingly loud. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and pushed him behind the supporting stone wall at the bottom of the stairs. He took his gun out.

A few steps up were enough to confirm it. Those people from Naruto's apartment had found them. Somehow, they knew exactly where Naruto and Sasuke were. One of them – the leader, judging by the formation – was silently ordering with unfamiliar hand signs.

The only way that was possible, after the chain of basements and halls of the buildings, was if one or both of them had a tracker on them. Which should be impossible, but it was all Naruto could think off.

He stepped back slowly. Warm hands touched his back, so he whispered, "The channel."

Making no fuss, Sasuke followed him, trying to keep his steps light. They left the backpack behind.

People on the level above them dropped the attempt of the stealthy mission as soon as they noticed that Naruto and Sasuke had started to move. The attempt had been a joke anyway, after getting there in such a noisy manner. There were no warnings when the fire descended on the narrow bicycle track that followed the line of the water; they were aiming to kill.

The only cover available was a mobile food stand, parked at the edge. Naruto took Sasuke's sleeve to tug him that way, but it was an unnecessary effort. Sasuke was heading that way already.

"Was it the phone?" he asked, letting Naruto push him back a bit to peek over the food stand.

"I have no idea," Naruto told him with complete honesty, as he aimed at the guy who managed to get down the stairs first and peeked from behind the wall and shot. The distance was too great for him to hit a part of an arm, but the bullet ended up close enough for the guy to retreat some.

"You can swim, right?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

"There's a bridge just over there," Sasuke answered.

The water was better. There were no lights, and if those trackers were somewhere in their – and that meant _Naruto's_ – clothes, water should ruin them.

"_Can you?"_ Naruto asked, pressing the trigger again, with the same results.

"It's not deep enough for swimming," Sasuke said, instead of answering. Well, then it didn't matter.

Across the path, several people jumped off the higher level.

Naruto nodded to Sasuke's hands, where he was holding his berretta. "Use that. Keep them distracted."

At least Sasuke wasn't hesitating about that. He shifted closer and mimicked the way Naruto had been crouching until then. Without delay, Sasuke used his gun. Naruto was pretty sure he was actually aiming on hitting those people, not distracting them. If so, then he wasn't the world's greatest shooter.

Naruto lay down on the ground on his stomach. He crawled forward a little ways under the stand, until he could see just enough to aim. His shots were precise and each hit a knee Naruto was aiming for. They would leave serious consequences, but he was beyond caring.

When all of the people with identical black clothing on the narrow path were down – and not one was yelling in pain, which was just so fucking creepy – Naruto pulled himself back and up.

"Come on," he ordered. Sasuke followed.

They used the cover the food stand provided for as long as possible. A couple of hits whistled through the air – whoever these guys were, they were not about to be stopped in killing their targets because of some destroyed knees.

But they couldn't walk, so when Naruto and Sasuke were half way across the water, the shooting stopped completely. Sasuke was right, the channel was shallow.

Naruto crouched, ignoring the smell, until his hair was wet.

"That water is dirty," Sasuke said in an odd, strained voice.

"Yeah, well, I'm afraid we don't have a shower handy. If they are tracking us somehow…"

Sasuke hesitated for a moment longer. "It's dirty," he repeated.

"You wanna be dirty or you wanna be dead?" Naruto said, putting his gun back on his belt. There was no response, they had no time for convincing, so Naruto grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down into the water.

The angry hiss Sasuke let out sounded like Naruto was too harsh, but he went along with it. Sasuke stood up more quickly than Naruto thought possible. He grabbed at his wet shirt and lifted it from his stomach, more on the right side. Naruto had to strain his eyes to see in the dark. Sasuke lifted his shirt completely, so soon it became clear.

He was wounded.

"The fuck, Sasuke," Naruto muttered, reaching out.

Sasuke's shirt was ripped. It didn't look like it was a hole, just a rip, so Naruto took some hope from it that it wasn't a bullet. He wiped as much blood and dirty water off as he could, trying to keep his hands steady and gentle.

"You cut yourself?" He asked.

Sasuke shook his head. He was looking down at what Naruto was doing. Naruto was tracking the wound, it was a long slash just above Sasuke's hip.

"It's just a scratch," Naruto said. They had nothing, nothing to stop the bleeding. "But it's bleeding a lot. You should've had told me before I made you wash it in the fucking channel!"

"Would that have made any difference? You obviously think that they have a way of tracking us down."

"Yes, it would've made a difference," Naruto seethed. There was very little he could do. "We'd have it covered or something. Too late now, so let's go."

He didn't ask if Sasuke _could_ move, but he was watching him carefully. Even though obviously in pain, Sasuke started walking toward the other riverbank first. Naruto wanted to ask when it happened, why that – that _moron_ didn't say anything, but they'd already gotten held up long enough.

Wet and slow, they got out of the water on the other side. Naruto was unfamiliar with this part of the city, but he led the way through the pitiful parks of the building blocks, tying to stay out of the light as much as possible. About five minutes later, he saw washed clothes drying on a terrace of the first floor. They were all women's clothes, but Naruto climbed and grabbed what he could reach. It was a red little shirt and cotton shorts, luckily dry already.

Sasuke looked incomprehensibly at him when Naruto offered them. Under the surge of adrenalin, Naruto had barely felt the cold fall air around him, but Sasuke was shaking. He was still bleeding a lot, even though not a word of complain had left his mouth.

"Come on," Naruto said softly. Sasuke shrugged off his hand when Naruto tried to direct him to the edge of the building and moved in that direction without help. They stopped next to a couple of steps, near the parking lot entrance. "Sit here."

Sasuke looked at him darkly, but sat. Naruto kneeled in front of him – a bit on the side, so he wouldn't block a faint light from a night light in front of the garage.

Sasuke was holding his wet shirt away from the wound. Naruto pushed it higher, not missing the shiver that passed through Sasuke when his wet skin came in contact with cold wind. There was a lot of blood, oozing out of the wound and smearing his entire stomach, all the way down through his pants.

"_Christ_," Naruto whispered. He cleaned as much as he could of the bloody mess with the smaller cloth. The wound was still bleeding, so he ripped the shirt to make a long strip and pressed the smaller rag to the wound and bandaged it to the best of his abilities. Even though he had to brush over it, touch and even press the bleeding injury, Sasuke hadn't made a sound. "I had painkillers in that backpack."

Sasuke nodded, like it actually mattered now. "I need to clean it soon."

Naruto let his hand fall from where he was fastening the knot. "I know. I wanted to be sure we got rid of whatever is that they had on us first…"because Iruka didn't deserve Naruto knocking on his door only to bring the chaos and ruin all the hard work. Naruto would prefer to wait and make sure, but he had forced Sasuke into the dirty water, even though all the people had been incapacitated. He would become dizzy soon, after losing so much blood and he was in pain. "But we better hurry."

As Naruto predicted, Sasuke swayed a little when he stood up. He said, "Shit."

Naruto considered helping him. There was no way to do that without having irritating the wound, so instead he let Sasuke go half a step in front of him, and kept a steadying hand on his back, or shoulder.

"Where is that address?" Naruto asked when they got to the street.

Sasuke glanced back, a spark of curiosity showing through the cloud of pain, "Not too far, actually. Near the fire station. It's an old theater. What's there?"

"The Shelter," Naruto said. He noticed the annoyance flash across Sasuke's face, before he turned to watch his step, so he explained. "No, I mean, it's a real shelter, like those for homeless people."

"That's fitting," Sasuke said, probably not with enough sarcasm for both of their comfort.

"It's illegal," Naruto continued, so he wouldn't have to think about his mother's kitchen, the entire apartment, ruined with a bomb. Not that they all didn't know it would sooner or later happen. "There are too many people who avoid the city's shelters because there is always police walking around, or cameras are following some politician who is doing a campaign. Those are for nothing more than old drunks kicked out of the house because of the alcohol."

"And the one we are going to is for criminals."

It was basically the truth. People with a past. People hiding, people in trouble… But mostly criminals.

"Iruka believes that everyone in need of help should get it," Naruto explained, as they crossed another street. Maybe he was distracting Sasuke some, though pain is not that easy to ignore. "He was some sort of soldier until his conscience caught up with him. The Shelter was at first legally opened… But there was no way to make some people, no matter how much they needed help, to go there. There was also no way to keep greedy hands out of Shelter's pockets, or politicians – and it's downright illegal to keep the police out."

"So how does the Shelter support itself?" Sasuke asked. Naruto thought that he was doing it not from real interest, but to keep him talking, so he did.

"Some of the money it earns by cooperating with agencies– or at least, they had been doing it with Jiraiya's agency." The large part of how Shelter was supporting itself Naruto knew nothing about.

Sasuke stopped and leaned on a lamppost, bending a little. He was in a lot pain and there was nothing Naruto could do. It seemed that Sasuke wanted was for him to keep talking. He asked, "I thought that the point was to keep them under the radar."

Naruto frowned. It was, where was the confusion? He thought again about what he had said.

"No, not that kind of cooperating," he finally realized. "They sometimes worked small jobs for the agency, like scouting, or distraction. Then Jiraiya would pay Iruka to give free beds and food to the people doing the job. Sometimes, depending on how much money was involved, they would also get some cash."

Naruto didn't say that this was his father's idea.

"That sounds to me," Sasuke said, gasping a little around the words, because he was checking the bandage with his fingers. "Like that shelter of yours isn't exactly free."

"It's free," Naruto answered, helplessly watching every spasm that ran though Sasuke's body. "For the first couple of weeks, anyway. More importantly, no one asks any questions."

After a minute, Sasuke was ready to go, though he was still slightly unsteady on his feet. Fortunately, the fire station's roof was already visible. They entered the street they were looking for less than five minutes later, still wet and looking back over their shoulders.


	5. Ch4: That on Which Reliance is Based

A/N: I'd like to thank BelleDragon for her beta help with this chapter!

* * *

Part Four

**That on Which Reliance is Based**

_Allies in a world of too much choice  
I only need your voice  
To tell me you care_

Allies by Heart

* * *

The theater had a sign that the building was closed for renovation, scheduled to reopen in the following spring. It indeed needed renovation. It was an old building that perhaps had been white once, but now most of the hoary paint was falling off the outer walls, leaving behind dirty gray holes. The main doors were barricaded, so Naruto walked around, keeping his fingers tightly coiled in Sasuke's wet sleeve and half-dragging him along. They found a back entrance marked with red paint there – it was the only confirmation Naruto needed that they were at the right place.

He banged on the door and waited. Only in the last couple of minutes, with the goal so close, he started feeling coldness in its full force. Adrenalin, which must have been what was keeping him warm, was wearing off.

After what must have been a full three minutes of occasional but desperate knocking, the door shrieked and opened.

"Naruto?" Called a questioning voice from the darkness of the hallway inside.

Naruto had no idea who it was or how they knew his name, but he confirmed automatically, "Yeah."

As he felt Sasuke move to stand closer to him, it occurred to Naruto that it could be some sort of trap. It was too late to do anything but step back a bit, but the figure on the door moved to answer something he couldn't quite catch to someone in the background.

"Yeah, alright," the person said, after the exchange was done. "Come on, Iruka will be here in a moment."

Regardless to the relief he felt, Naruto reinforced his grip on Sasuke's arm and walked in first. The hallway was very dim, and when the door creaked and thumped behind them, there was nothing but darkness. Naruto's only connection to the world was Sasuke's freezing cold hand, so he squeezed it a little and took a deep breath.

"Don't you have lights in here?"

"Not in this hallway, it stretches down to the street. Someone could see the light," their guide answered. It was weird talking to someone who was completely hidden by darkness. "Just keep to the left wall to the first door. There's light in there."

Steps passed by him as Naruto found the wall on his left. He tugged Sasuke forward, "You okay there?"

"Fine," Sasuke said, but it sounded like he had to force the word out. "Are you sure about this?"

With a short laugh, Naruto admitted, "Not at all." There was no use in lying. He trusted Iruka, but Iruka wasn't the one to open the door, and he was well aware what sort of people the place was likely to be overcrowded with.

Sasuke yanked his sleeve out of his grip. Naruto started to turn with panic rising in his stomach – what was he doing, where was he going? – but a second later Sasuke grabbed the hem of his shirt and found the belt underneath it. He pushed Naruto to continue walking. Through a faraway window, a light flicked and disappeared. Naruto tried to relax somewhat – where would Sasuke go on his own at that point anyway? He must have gotten tired with Naruto dragging him around by the ham of his sleeve, but he apparently wasn't willing to lose physical contact with the only person he knew in that darkness. Naruto was grateful; it was a little bit warmer with him closer by.

He walked as steadily as possible. The first sign that the door they were looking for was near was when the footsteps leading them stopped. Naruto had just the time to find a doorframe when there was a squeak and weak light illuminated the face of the stranger in the hall with them. He was a middle aged man with grayish hair sticking unruly upward and gauze band-aided over his right eye.

Naruto followed him into the light and warmth of the inner room. It was another hallway. The three other doors that were leading out of it were all wide open. Naruto tried to glance inside, though the blur of his eye adjusting to the light kept him from seeing much. All he could see was that the room on the right was rearranged to be the kitchen and that the room straight forward was full of people.

"That looks nasty."

Naruto didn't have to look back to see that the man who lead them inside had noticed and was speaking about Sasuke's wound, but he did. There was more blood than the last time he looked so he gritted his teeth. Though Sasuke didn't say exactly what happened, the wound was too clean and straight to be caused by anything but a bullet. It was just a graze, nothing vital was damaged, but the amount of blood Sasuke was losing was worrying.

From the kitchen, a familiar figure emerged, and Naruto felt his knees weakening in relief.

"I've been watching television since midnight, what happened to you?" But even though Iruka's tone was brusque and demanding, he gathered Naruto into a hug, not paying attention as his clothes dampened. "They first said you were a hostage, but now they are saying that you might be an accomplice…."

"Let's just say that I finally understand, from experience, Jiraiya's first rule of business." Naruto, with some effort, pushed away and turned to Sasuke, who was keeping really close to him. He gestured at Sasuke's bloody shirt. "I have to take care of that."

Iruka glanced at Sasuke and widened his eyes in recognition. He didn't say anything. Jiraiya's first rule of business was, _work with criminals if you have to, but never for them_. And Sasuke was all over the news, as Itachi's little brother. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Naruto was working for them.

"There is a line of showers behind the changing rooms," Iruka said, his eyes flickering to the man who had led Naruto and Sasuke inside. "Take them there. I'll heat up some water."

He rushed back into the kitchen. Naruto was grateful he wasn't asking any questions yet, though they were sure to come. He couldn't care at the moment. The long sleepless night and everything that happened was catching up with him. He followed the guy who was practically their assigned guide by now out though a door, then through another one and another… The lights were on everywhere, artificially yellow and blazing, and they were starting to bother Naruto. He didn't need to see piles of garbage, old broken chairs, ripped off tiles and wet smudges on the walls right now, but they were obvious even if neatly out of their way.

Sasuke was still close behind him. This place must have been horrible for him. He didn't know anyone, the way Naruto knew Iruka. He had never been in a place like this one before. Naruto as good as told him that all the people he was about to meet were dangerous. He was hurt, cold and wet. Naruto wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke thought it was all his fault or at least that it was his fault they were in such an undesirable position.

In the shower room, the man had switched a small heater on before leaving them alone. Naruto pushed the heavy, long bench for changing closer to the stalls, until it was blocking some of the doors and leaning against the wall between. Next, he dragged the heater as close as the cable allowed him. Sasuke lowered himself down carefully. He was eerily pale. In the unnatural light, Naruto couldn't be sure exactly how much of that lack of color was from the blood loss and how much was just an illusion.

But Sasuke closing his eyes with a small grunt and then sinking farther was certainly not an illusion. He was exhausted and floating on the edge of consciousness.

"Hey," Naruto called softly. He could've as well yelled, for the way Sasuke straightened himself. "You need to take the shirt off. Can you?"

"Yes." Sasuke removed the wet, torn shirt with some effort. His chest was dirty; some of the blood reached all the way up to his neck. Naruto wanted to check his bandage, but he probably wouldn't dare, just in case Iruka got held up. It was likely still bleeding.

To distract himself, Naruto stood up and checked the faucets. None of them worked, which was probably why Iruka had said that he would get some water to heat up. They had no running water in the theater, much less _warm_ running water.

When Iruka came in, he had a first aid kit in his hands. He handed it over to Naruto, with a bottle of uncontaminated bottled water. "Clean the wound so I can see what we can do about it."

Naruto was pouring a thin stream of clean water over Sasuke's wound, as slowly as possible. He was using a small cloth Iruka gave him to gently scrub the most persistent dirt. Sasuke looked half asleep, like Naruto messing around the wound was calming him down instead of causing pain. Bloodied water seeped down on the damaged white tiles and slid toward the drain.

Iruka looked over at the wound over Naruto's shoulder.

"A couple of stitches, I think. It's not so bad." Sasuke opened his eyes to glare at him. "It will heal faster, and it's hardly my first time. The equipment is sterile, I promise."

That seemed to be what was bothering Sasuke the most, because on the last words, he nodded his acceptance. Iruka turned to Naruto. "Help him wash that well, Ao will bring water in a minute."

"I can wash myself."

Iruka ignored Sasuke's input altogether. "He's lost a lot of blood and that swim you two took wasn't helpful. I'll bring back some clothes for both of you."

Should Naruto say that he was diving in the channel because he thought they were probably somehow tracked down? But if he was right, they got rid of it. If he wasn't right… Than how the fuck had those people found them? It was five-something, the sky had just barely begun to turn gray outside. It should've been too early for random people to see and report them. But then, one insomniac would be enough.

Iruka left again.

Uncertain, Naruto glanced up at Sasuke. "We should probably get rid of those pants."

Without opening his eyes, Sasuke said, "I'm too tired to kick you."

"Aren't I lucky?" Naruto murmured and reached to open Sasuke's pants.

Sasuke slapped his hand away like it was an annoying fly. "That meant that you should keep your hands off me."

If it wasn't Naruto fault, the entire mess they were in, he'd feel bad about those words. _Really_ bad; it would have been much worse than the pang of irritation and hurt that clinked in his chest.

"You don't have the luxury," he muttered, keeping most of the sting out of his voice. "I'm all you've got right now."

He kept his eyes steadily on Sasuke's face, he wasn't about to avoid seeing the impact his words made. It wasn't about being harsh. Naruto knew damn well that after the way they started the previous night, he didn't have a good chance at establishing a professional relationship based on trust – with emphasis on _professional_.

But Sasuke's pants were drenched. Blood oozed completely through them and some would remain even if they attempted to wash out the thick fabric. Besides, it was a little bit childish to act coy under the circumstances.

When Naruto reached again, Sasuke gave in and helped. The jeans were off in no time. Naruto didn't dare to suggest that the underwear should go off as well. He was having problems looking properly at Sasuke as it was. It wasn't arousal, Naruto wasn't sick to get off on the situation but then, it wasn't as if Sasuke was dying. It seemed easier to avoid temptation just in case.

"Do you think Itachi is alive?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

It was a hard question. Naruto had no idea. "Why would they be so set to get to you if he wasn't?"

"Revenge?"

Revenge for what? Who were those people? Where were they getting information that was spot on? How had they managed to make the connection to Naruto so soon? How had they managed to follow them, or track them, all the way to the channel?

The scary amount of questions he had no answer to made Naruto dizzy. "They killed all the people Itachi hired to protect you. People that were not on duty even. If that was revenge on your brother, then…"

Then what? It was insane? Well, whatever it was, it certainly made no sense.

"No." Naruto continued when Sasuke didn't answer. "I think…. He has something on these people. He has something they want, or something they are afraid of. Something so big, they would do anything to get to him."

That still wasn't explaining why they would kill some people that were not even on duty, but it was just a theory. .

"He _had_ something on them," Sasuke amended. He sounded sleepy; likely the small heater that was turned on high and pointed directly at him wasn't helping with keeping him alert. "And now he's dead and they think I might have it."

Naruto's very first thought was to ask, _do you have it?_ But he had no right to ask that. He took the responsibility for Sasuke's life on himself blindly. He was doing the best he could, so he should take the possibility under consideration when making decisions from then on, but he had no right to ask.

It didn't matter either way. Sasuke was now his to protect, even though…

"That scares me," he didn't mean to say it, but it was the truth. If someone powerful was after Sasuke because they thought he had something discriminating on them… Then they were fucked.

"Last time I heard from him was on my birthday. In July."

"Oh." Naruto answered to that, unsure of what to think. Was that offered as potentially valuable information, or it was just babbling caused by the blood loss? He considered it carefully anyway. If all this was consequence of Itachi trying to get back at people who had attempted to assassinate him behind his club, then Sasuke probably had nothing to do with it. It happened only several weeks ago, months after July. Perhaps Itachi found a way to give him something without Sasuke knowing about it, like sent it to him by mail, that is.

The opening of the door snapped Naruto out of circling around the possibilities with a serious lack of information. Three people brought in two large containers of warm water. Naruto picked up a basin and the rag he used to wash Sasuke's wound earlier. It was dirty, but at least it was clearly washed before he used it the first time. The sponge on the shelf in the nearest shower stall didn't look clean at all.

Sasuke sprang back to life when he realized that the time for the shower had come. Naruto took off his shirt, stayed as close as possible, despite being glared at and helped with some places Sasuke couldn't reach no matter how hard he'd tried. Near the end of it, as if he was watching through a peephole and knew exactly when the time was right, Iruka came back. He had towels – they looked scruffy but clean - and some clothes.

Sasuke used a towel to dry off on his own, but he was holding himself upward against the doorframe every once in awhile. Iruka seemed amused with that unnecessary display of bravado. Naruto had to lock his knees so he wouldn't reach out to help him keep the balance as Sasuke was trying to use the towel to wipe the remaining water off his legs. He suspected the effort would have just got him snapped at. He stayed close by, though and followed Sasuke's every movement with probably quite a bit more enthusiasm than strictly necessary.

"The wound is bleeding again." Iruka assessed after a quick look. He didn't have to bother; fresh blood was startlingly obvious on Sasuke's pale skin. "We have to take care of it as soon as possible. I will give you a local anesthetic, and we'll start as soon as the area gets numb. Do you have any allergies? Weak heart? Any medical condition at all?"

After Sasuke shook his head, Iruka gestured for him to sit on the bench again. He was wearing only the towel Iruka had given him, which Naruto noticed despite being busy looking at the needle Iruka was taking out of protective plastic.

Sasuke barely glanced at it as Iruka filled the syringe with something out of a small bottle, but he took the bottle to check the description as soon as Iruka finished with it. He seemed to be satisfied with the information because he set it down next to him on the bench, before straddling it so Iruka would have a better access.

Naruto managed to keep watching until he saw Iruka carefully place all the equipment on the little white suitcase on the floor behind him. The last time he had stitches was a long time ago… but Naruto could clearly remember that getting anesthetic was the most painful part of it, as you'd get too numb to feel anything through the stitching itself. Ignoring Sasuke's sharp glance when he moved, Naruto sat down on the bench behind him.

"You should wash before the water cools down," Sasuke told him over his shoulder through gritted teeth, nodding at Naruto's wet and dirty clothes. "It's disgusting."

It wasn't pretty, but most of the dirt washed away when he was helping Sasuke. Not that he cared; there was more than enough water for Sasuke to wash again, if needed.. "Give me your hands."

"No," Sasuke said instantly. He was already holding onto the edge of the bench. "I won't move."

"Do as he says," Iruka instructed. Sasuke didn't like it, not judging by the venomous look he gave them both, but he let Naruto take his hands.

Without any further delay, Iruka cleared the blood that freshly oozed out of the wound. He injected a little bit of the anesthetic into four or five places around the gash. When the needle broke his skin the first time and slid deep into the wound, Sasuke finally twisted his hands and squeezed Naruto's fingers harshly. Naruto wanted to hold him against his chest when Iruka decided on the angle for the second injection, but he didn't dare to do anything but slide a bit closer to Sasuke on the bench.

Sasuke didn't let out a single sound through all four or five injections of anesthetic, though Naruto was pretty sure that some of his fingers were broken. It took more than ten seconds from when Iruka was done until Sasuke's fingers loosened around Naruto's. He wasn't complaining about it, though.

While waiting for the anesthetic to hit full force, Naruto quickly washed. The clothes Iruka had brought were too big on him, but he put them on gratefully. They smelled clean, like detergent. That was all that mattered at the moment.

Even though the anesthetic was local, Iruka seemed to have been generous with it. Sasuke was groggy – the local wouldn't infect his brain, but the lack of pain must have been welcome and lulling. He was barely present, looking around the room through half closed eyes, as Iruka worked the stitches. Naruto took his place on the bench and was a little surprised when Sasuke leaned heavily back into him. It worked out well, because that way Naruto was able to keep him from moving if necessary – or falling off - and help Iruka. He ended up straightening Sasuke back up to the bench a couple of times, but no other help was required of him.

When Iruka was done, Naruto took over. He bandaged Sasuke again, this time with proper sterile bandages. For all intents and purposes, Sasuke was out for the count. Between the anesthetic and the blood loss, it was only to be expected. No one said a thing as Naruto carefully picked up both their guns.

There was no way to tell what time it was as Naruto half dragged Sasuke through windowless hallways. He hoped for a room that would show him the sky outside, but instead they were pointed to the old auditorium. Rows of seats were moved to make barriers between mattresses that were spread all over the place. Everything looked filled, which was a little bit odd. Naruto had been in the shelter several times, mostly to pick up someone to do a job for Jiraiya. There were always a few people, but this was the first time there was a crowd this big. He needed to ask what was going on.

"There. It's a medium sized one, but it's all that we've got left."

Naruto looked at it. 'Medium size' mattress was just big enough for two. It was on the least desirable position in the entire hall, right in the middle of the room. A woman was sleeping on one side and a man drinking water and looking at them on the other, but the line of old seats was still making a barrier between their mattresses. The way it was tucked in between the rows of seats, it resembled a nest. All the emergency made alcoves did.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said quietly, so only Sasuke could hear him. "Time to get some rest, come on."

Sasuke let go of him and lay carefully on the old mat. His eyes closed instantly.

"Thanks." Naruto said to the man that led them there. It was the same guy who let them inside, one Iruka had addressed as Ao. He got a nod in response before he was left there to wonder if he should risk it and try to get some rest, too. He was tired and slightly cold with his still damp hair, but he was afraid. He could turn recklessly in his sleep and hurt Sasuke further. But as soon as Naruto closed his eyes for a second, trying to make the decision, he knew it was useless. He was too tired, he felt drained and the sinking sensation that flooded him wasn't a pleasant experience. He'd better catch some sleep while he could.

Naruto knelt down. He carefully positioned himself on the far edge of the hard mattress – which was really only far enough to not actually touch Sasuke – after finding a place for their guns. He could hear Sasuke breathing and smell the harsh shampoo Iruka had provided clearly. The warmth oozing from him was welcome, but Naruto resisted dragging himself closer. Closing his eyes, he hoped with the little energy he had left that he wouldn't thrash in his sleep for once.

*#*#*

When Naruto woke up, Sasuke was still in the same position he had fallen asleep in that morning. His breathing was even, but his face was pale. If he was in too much pain, he wouldn't be able to sleep well, so at least that was good.

Naruto first checked his weapon where he had left it under the pillow. It was still there, so he returned it to its place on his belt.

Carefully, Naruto pulled Sasuke's thick woolen shirt just enough to see if he was bleeding, just in case. The outside layer of the bandage was still perfectly white. He sighed with relief, glancing up at Sasuke's pale face again. His lips were dry, his hair was too dark and the wave of guilt overwhelmed Naruto. Maybe Sasuke wasn't the nicest person in the world, but Naruto wronged him. He wasn't up to the job. He was doing it poorly.

And worse than all that, he couldn't do anything but push forward, because there was no one else left. He wished he hadn't said it quite so blatantly when he was trying to talk Sasuke into undressing for the bath, but it was still the truth..

"What are you staring at?" Sasuke murmured sleepily, startling him.

Naruto explained, feeling ashamed as if he was caught peeking into the changing room. "I'm just making sure you're okay."

"I'm not," Sasuke informed him, "Are we moving someplace?"

"No, I need to talk to Iruka. Do you mind if I leave you here for several minutes? You could sleep some more."

Sasuke gave no answer; he just made a vague hand motion that meant that Naruto should go – the sooner, the better. It was that or dragging him out of the bed, so Naruto stood up. There was no way of telling what time of day it was, he had lost all sense of it. The large auditorium seemed to be mostly empty. The dark red curtains, heavy and rich, were still hanging on both sides of the stage. Aside from the carved wood at the sides of the platform and around the balconies that were filled with junk, those curtains were the only remaining part that was left there to testify about some happier times.

From one of the 'nests' near the emergency exit door there was quiet music playing. The slow Spanish song sounded more longing than sad, even though Naruto could not understand a word of it. The voice of the singer was low and everything but smooth; the rasps and unevenness of it gave the song an unreal, dreamy feeling. While walking by the old radio that was playing it, all Naruto wanted was to turn back and get under the covers next to Sasuke. He couldn't follow that urge, but it became easier to ignore it once the door closed and cut off the quiet timbre.

All the rooms were either full of junk like the balconies or so clean, that the floors were sparkling. Naruto followed his nose and it unmistakably led him to the kitchen. The room smelled of vegetables and chicken, there was a huge casserole on the stove, full of something that looked even more delicious than the smell was promising it would be.

"Morning," Naruto called after Iruka and another guy had pushed the huge, heavy dish into the oven. He didn't want to startle them.

"It's after three in the afternoon," Iruka said.

There was no scorn in his voice and in contained information Naruto wanted, so he grinned. "Doesn't matter."

After Iruka gave them a wordless look, several people left the room, leaving him and Naruto alone.

"Please take a seat, Naruto," Iruka said. His tone was still mild, but Naruto had the impression that the lecture was coming. He sat at the old wooden table, determined to wait it out until the tide ebbed. "You will always be welcome with us, you know that. We will always do whatever we can to help you. You practically grew up among us, and I can clearly remember helping you with your homework in grade school. You know all that, right?"

Naruto knew it. Again, but for different reasons, he felt guilty. It seemed so easy, now when he was sitting across from Iruka, to just open his mouth and ask for help. Why on Earth was it a problem for him to pick up the phone?

"Yeah," He answered in a small voice.

"Now that you know that this is not about me wanting to throw you out," Iruka continued, without a trace of mildness left. "What the hell are you thinking? You know better than this, I expect more of you than this. He's a _criminal_…"

"He's not," Naruto cut in. He had to clear that up.

"_Naruto_." It was a warning, nothing else.

"No, really, Itachi said…"

"And you believed him?" Iruka all but spat. Naruto had to wonder if there was a feud there somewhere.

"No – _yeah_… And even if I shouldn't have, I have been working for him – as some sort of surveillance protection security for Sasuke – for some time now. I know he wasn't lying."

"Still," Iruka said, though he sounded softer. "You are working for a criminal. Where is he now, anyway? If his brother is all over the news, why isn't he his side? What kind of security can one person can provide anyway?"

"There were four of us," Naruto confessed. "They are all dead – the girl who was on the same shift with me was probably blown up with the van and when I called the guys… they were dead. Itachi might be dead, too – he probably is. And Sasuke – he's going to school for snakes. I can't just let him die."

Under the sad look Iruka was giving him, Naruto realized that that wasn't sounding too lucid. What did the snakes have to do with anything, huh? It was probably the thinking about Karin that got him so upset.

"I see," Iruka said. Naruto wished _he_ could see, as well. "What happened out there? Why did he kill that cop?"

Relieved he getting to hear another opinion, Naruto told him everything. He was too afraid he'd leave out something important if he skipped through how he'd let Sasuke pick him up in the bar, but he hated the pitying, concerned expression on Iruka's face. So okay, he was emotionally involved with the case. That just meant that he needed help more desperately.

When he was done, Iruka stated, "You need Kakashi."

"Yeah, but I can't find him on my own." Naruto answered. He needed Kakashi like hungry people needed bread – and thinking about bread, he realized he was very hungry. The meal in the oven smelled better by the minute. "Do you know where he is?"

"Not at the moment. He should be at 'Fireland' sooner or later, though, he has a half-regular job there."

'Fireland' was one of the dancing clubs downtown. While guarding Konohamaru, Naruto had spent a lot of time at that place – or more specifically, at the top floor of the building that hosted small parties for the richest clients. For the richest, _gay_ clients that preferred to stay closeted in the eye of the public. It was an expensive secret and Naruto guarded it for free, out of honor. His life would have been much easier if he went to the gossip papers and gave out the names with some extra spice, but doing such a thing was not something he'd seriously consider.

"Will he be working tonight?"

"I don't know, but I can check," Iruka promised. "This should be done by now, are you hungry?"

Naruto suspected he had an unhealthy look in his eyes at the mention of the food, for Iruka shook his head in the 'what I am going to do with you' way. After Naruto had helped him take out a surprisingly heavy and very hot dish, Iruka filled up two plates and left them on the table.

"Help me take this into the dining room," Iruka instructed, gesturing to the casserole. "Then come back, eat and take some to your friend. Then give him these."

He provided two bottles of medication out of a pocket and Naruto took them. He had no idea what the first was for, but the second bottle contained pain killers.

The 'dining room' was what once used to be an old dressing room. There were many more tables than people in it, but even so, there was at least thirty seats taken.

"Why are you so full?" Naruto remembered to ask when they put the casserole at the pre-determined place for it.

"It's the clean-up," Iruka answered, already distracted with choosing someone to help him. Naruto had no idea what 'clean-up' he was talking about, but it was already too late to ask more questions, so he returned to the kitchen to eat. Whatever the combination of vegetables and chicken was, it was delicious.

He found a tray, put the other plate, bread and a little bottle of water on it and took it through now fairly familiar hallways to the auditorium. Sasuke was actually awake; he was sitting up at the edge of the mattress, propped against one of the seats in the row that was like a barricade between him and a woman in the next mattress.

"Iruka will find Kakashi," Naruto said, kneeling down to put the tray next to Sasuke. "If anyone can find out what's going on and where your brother is, it's Kakashi. Then we'll see what to do next. Are you hungry?"

"You're trying to find Itachi?" Sasuke asked. He sounded surprised.

"Of course I'm trying to find Itachi! He's my employer, I need to – kick him once or twice. And then ask him what the hell is going on."

"Have you tried his home?" Sasuke asked.

"First, If you're referring to the apartment his bodyguard took me to by driving me in circles for an hour - I can't find that and second – it would be crawling with cops. Besides, I've been kind of busy, if you haven't noticed."

"He has a house somewhere in the country," Sasuke said, leaning carefully over the tray. He was obviously hungry, so Naruto let him take a couple of bites before prompting.

"Where?"

"I don't know exactly," Sasuke said. Naruto smiled; he sounded much more 'with it' even after eating so little. "But I do know that it's not in his name, that's the whole point. A safe refuge."

"Well, I hope he's there," Naruto sighed. He took the bottles out of his pocket and gave them to Sasuke. No questions followed as Sasuke glanced at the description. He must've known what they were for far better than Naruto.

He ate slowly, occasionally stopping in the middle of the movement as a grimace of pain flashed over his face. The first time, Naruto reached out, but Sasuke snapped at him. He was sitting there for awhile in an awkward silence – something he was sure Sasuke was causing on purpose as some sort of some sick pleasure – trying to keep him from offering help. The stillness and silence made him even more uncomfortable, so Naruto rose to his feet.

"I'm going to see if Iruka needs some help."

The only acknowledgment he got was a short glance before Sasuke started opening a bottle, so Naruto turned and strode across the auditorium, quite content with the lack of Spanish guitars to see him out.

Fortunately, Iruka did need help with quite a few things. Naruto moved some heavy gear and washed socks to the best of his abilities. Every so often, he had to go back to see Sasuke, so jobs like watching over the back door from a window above wasn't well suited for him.

"How are you doing?" He had asked the first time he walked back into the auditorium.

"Fine," Sasuke had answered. "There is a piece of ceiling that could fall on my head any moment, though."

Naruto glanced up. Sasuke was right, there was a piece of ceiling that looked like it _could_ fall off – but if that happened, it would fall at least three rows to the left. Sasuke was bored and cranky.

"So, everything is alright?" Naruto cheerfully continued. "I'm glad to hear you are, you know, fed and with a roof over your head and not being shot at – you can stop thanking me now. Really."

Sasuke hadn't answered anything. Naruto kept the rest of his check-ups visual only; there was no use in them fighting. He was quite happy when he found that Sasuke had, at some point, made friends with his neighbors and seemed deep into conversation with them. Anything to keep him distracted was welcome.

Iruka stopped Naruto around seven, in the middle of the washroom he was helping clean.

"Kakashi will be at 'Fireland' tonight. You should probably go in late, around eleven – he is most likely to be in his place when the crowd is tightest. He's working the top floor, so you should probably go though security."

Of course he was working the top floor. Kakashi was true elite, the best of the best. He was expensive and efficient, not a bodyguard just anyone could afford. No sane person would waste him on a bunch of drunken nobodies. And besides, Kakashi was such a pervert it was like he was born to work security of the top floor at 'Fireland'.

It might be hard to get to him. Naruto had a way in, but in case that failed, Iruka's advice was solid. He could always get security's attention and ask for Kakashi.

Eager to share the good news, he went to tell Sasuke immediately.

"I'm going to find Kakashi tonight, I know where to look." He said, determined not to let Sasuke's mood – if it was still sour - spoil the momentary happiness as he lowered himself to sit at the edge of the mattress.

But Sasuke simply cocked his head. "You are not going anywhere without me."

"It won't take more than an hour…"

Quickly despite the wound, Sasuke leaned forward until his face was all Naruto could see. "You are not leaving me here. I won't wait here, wondering if you are going to come back and if someone will barge in to arrest me, while you go around the city after your face has been showed repeatedly on television."

It was more than lack of other things to do. Sasuke was worried, Naruto realized feeling warm. It will be late and dark, 'Fireland' will be crowded. And Kakashi will be there.

It's not as if Naruto had a guarantee Iruka's place would be safe for much longer, anyway. From what he managed to glance at on television, they were still the main news. Someone at the Shelter might tip them off. It would make problems for Iruka on more levels than one.

Besides, Naruto really disliked the thought of leaving Sasuke behind.

He nodded his agreement and Sasuke relaxed a little.

* * *

A/N: The song I had in mind for when Naruto catches it on someone's radio while leaving the auditorium for the first time is _Una Palabra_ by Carlos Varela.


	6. Ch5: Strenuous Acquaintances

**A/N**: I'm sorry. I know it's taking me forever. The more I try to make it good, to be throughout, the bigger mess I'm making. Anyway, huge thanks to my beta and to you guys, for all the lovely comments you've been giving me.

* * *

Part Five

**Strenuous Acquaintances **

(Plato of Your Kind)

* * *

Leaving behind the safety of the theater was a relief in some ways. Heavy drapes that kept secret all those hidden in the Shelter also kept the daylight out. The old electrical wiring was terrible; the unstable voltage made the lights flicker ominously at random intervals. Naruto was not sad to escape the slightly claustrophobic atmosphere of the Shelter.

More importantly, their presence could have turned out to be a major pain for Iruka. He knew that and he felt guilty for endangering them for so long. There was no mistaking the relieved expressions of some people when he announced that they were going, nor he could blame them. Although it was with reluctance that he exposed them both to the outside world, where they were constantly at risk of being reported by "dutiful citizens," Naruto would only take them back to the theater in cases of extreme emergency. Being responsible for Sasuke was hard enough… He didn't want more people on his conscience.

"Fireland" was not exactly on the opposite side of the city, but it was far enough that some sort of transportation would be preferable to reaching it on foot. Naruto insisted, and Sasuke agreed readily enough, that they walk anyway. Public transportation provided too much opportunity for people to focus on them.

So it took awhile. It was likely past midnight when they turned into the small side street with the entrance to the club. The entire area was lined with buildings that were around a hundred, hundred and fifty years old. Most of those originally built there were still standing, in their ornamented glory, generally untouched under the wing of law. But some were painted in vivid colors, some rearranged to hold shops and restaurants and some, like the one that hosted "Fireland", were built on – over the gray cement of the old walls there was now a tower of steel and glass proudly facing the competition in the more modern parts of the city.

Above the line of dressed-up people hoping to be granted entry to the club was a row of stone lions, their jaws stretched wide in frozen roars.. Naruto had always liked them. In fact, he had even allowed Konohamaru to drag him up there one early morning and ride one like a child. It had been fun. The memory and fresh air improved his mood.

"We'll never get in looking like this."

Naruto snapped out of his recollection at the sound of Sasuke's voice and grinned, "Sure we will."

"Not in these clothes."

To be fair, the bouncers would never let them in dressed like they were. Sasuke was right about that. "They're good enough for the alternate way up."

Sasuke looked down at his oversized blue shirt. "Are we going though the sewers, then?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke had been acting that way all day, bitching at everything Naruto said or did. It was irritating and it made him angry, especially when one of his barbs would hit a sore spot, but he reigned in his emotions every time, with a bit of effort. It wouldn't do if they fought.

"Close enough, through the basement," he allowed. "It's this way."

Sasuke followed him as he walked around several shops. They ended up in the street parallel to the one with the club's entrance. The tower of "Fireland" loomed over them with equal audacity from that side. There was a row of small windows to the basement there, at level with their knees. Some were open, but all were secured with iron bars shaped like calla lilies at the ends. Naruto found the familiar one in the corner of an alcove and crouched to examine it. To his relief, the screws were still the way he had left them back when he had used the window as an alternate exit point with Konohamaru. He'd cut them so they would look like they were fastening the bars to the window when you put the frame in its place, but in reality, the screws were too short to fasten anything securely. After a quick glance around, Naruto moved the heavy iron with some effort.

"You know this place well."

Naruto glanced up, but Sasuke was looking down the street. "Yeah."

There was no choice but to break the glass. It was possible that someone would hear…and the security would come running. Kakashi would be with them, though, or someone would be able to recognize him, so they weren't in any danger.

"How come?"

"What?" Naruto glanced up again. Sasuke was now scowling at him, obviously irritated again. What were they talking about? "Oh. I worked for the old Mayor's grandson. He liked coming here. Especially to the upper floors."

To be honest, Konohamaru was only fond of the place because his family had insisted he kept sexuality a secret. It took months to warm up to "Fireland's" special services, but the place soon became a second home for Konohamaru. Soon after Jiraiya talked Naruto into taking the job, there had been a scandal at the entrance of the club involving a famous movie actor and a prostitute. The building and the street had been crawling with reporters, waiting for another scandal to happen. Naruto had needed to find a way to get Konohamaru in and out without the reporters noticing.

Amusement replaced Sasuke's annoyance. "So it's true what they say about this place."

It was a statement, not a question. Still, Naruto grinned, "Oh, yeah. Everything you've heard and then some."

Sasuke didn't seem like he had anything to add to the conversation, so Naruto kicked in the glass. He was careful to protect his face with his arms in case of some wayward shards. It took him a minute to clear up the pieces so they wouldn't cut his arm while he was pulling the window open, but his quick glances back confirmed that Sasuke was watching the surroundings carefully again. Confident that he would be alerted if someone came near them, Naruto was able to do the work faster.

"I'll go first," he muttered when it was over. The room beneath him was obviously empty so it would have been better if he could have let Sasuke in first, but he couldn't. The windowsill was high above the floor, and Naruto couldn't be sure if there was something just under it or not. Sasuke was hurt in an awkward place, after all. It affected his flexibility.

With one last look at the surroundings, Naruto crouched and slid down through the window, legs first. He lowered himself as far as possible on his hands before jumping off. Sprained ankles would not help their situation at all. When he turned and kicked a single carton box full of toilet cleaning products out of the way, Sasuke was already sitting at the edge of the window and trying to peer inside, like Naruto had done a moment ago. There was little point in it; you couldn't see much in the half-darkness and Sasuke gave up quickly. When he pushed himself off, Naruto caught him awkwardly. He was very aware that it was inappropriate but was unwilling to take his chances with his hands being anywhere near the gunshot wound. He caught Sasuke low on his body, just under his ass. He held Sasuke for just a second before letting the rigid body slide to the ground.

Naruto found himself unwilling to let go. He could smell Sasuke as he moved his hands up to steady him - the cheap detergent from the Shelter, the old leather of the jacket, the fresh sweat and underneath it all, hints of the coppery scent of blood. They appealed to him so he filled his lungs with them, inhaling sharply, but it was the unexpected warmth that made him curl his fingers into Sasuke's shirt tighter.

Their position resembled an embrace. Feeling a little bit detached, Naruto nuzzled Sasuke's shoulder. He just started wondering about the curious stillness of the body next to his and lack of reaction, when Sasuke pulled his left arm from the tight space between them. Even though he knew what was coming, Naruto didn't let go. He ended up being elbowed in the stomach without an ounce of sympathy, hard enough for the pain to make him bend over, gasping for breath.

Sasuke moved a couple of steps away wordlessly. Naruto quickly went though the arguments inside his head; he deserved it. While he had been wasting time, seeking comfort - or whatever the hell he'd been doing - someone could have walked into the room. He was getting sloppy. He needed to focus.

Naruto straightened, ignoring the chill that hadn't been there before. He tried casting an apologetic glance at Sasuke, determined not to actually voice his regret. Who knew what he could have ended up saying. But Sasuke was not looking at him; he was frowning at the only door that led out of the small room of the cold basement.

Well, whatever.

They waited a couple of minutes. No one seemed to have heard, as no one was coming. Naruto attempted to open the door – to his astonishment, it swung forward easily.

They were inside.

* * *

The surveillance system was stationed in the basement. After a brief inner debate, Naruto decided to go directly there and turn himself in to the security guards watching the monitors for signs of disorder. In any other situation, it would have been fun to see how far up he could make it before being discovered, but not tonight. Not with a wounded Sasuke.

"Where to?" Sasuke startled him out of pondering on the subject.

The windowless hallway looked completely the same on both ends, creating a constricting feeling with its high ceilings and naked walls that seemed to squeeze in on them. He waved his hand to the left, "The stairwell is over there. But we'll be going this way."

The last door down the hallway to the right was marked clearly. Naruto threw a grin over his shoulder to a wary looking Sasuke and opened the door. There were two men inside. One was watching the number of flickering monitors, just barely alert enough to be doing a decent job and the other one was frowning at the computer screen. They both glanced at the door at the same time. Naruto grinned again and pointedly scanned the room.

"Looks like this isn't the bathroom, either."

The man at the computer stood up, mouth hanging open as he searched for words. Finally, he sputtered, "The bath…? How did you get here?"

He regained his wits after a short scrutiny – ripped shirts are known for having that effect on security guards, after all – and went directly for his belt. Naruto raised both his hands in surrender, "Kidding, just kidding! We're looking for Kakashi, actually. Could you call him, please?"

"How did you get here? The door to the basement is locked. There's an alarm on it."

The tone was sharp, but Naruto was happy to notice that the hand halted over the now visible gun holster on the mention of Kakashi. "Yeah, well… Could you call him, please, and tell him that Naruto is looking for him? He's expecting me."

Chances that Iruka had the time to inform Kakashi that they were coming were very slim, but it made him sound important enough for the man to gesture his colleague to the phone at the table.

"You haven't answered me."

Naruto played dumb, to stall for time, "Answered what?"

"How did you get here?"

"Oh, that." A light snort behind him reminded him to move and show off Sasuke before his presence becomes a nasty surprise later on. He gestured to include Sasuke, "We jumped in."

It worked as a distraction as well. The man stepped closer and squinted into the shadow Sasuke was sticking to. "How many of you are there?"

"Just us," Naruto barely managed to chip in before the guard figured the implications of the other part of his answer.

He narrowed his eyes further and even though he was asking a question, his tone held a clear threat, "You _jumped_ in?"

"It's alright. Kakashi says to let them up."

Finally, the guard interrogating them – the one that became the First Guard in Naruto's head, because neither of the two men had any distinct characteristics suitable to base witty nicknames on- relaxed enough to buckle up his gun holster. Naruto took the chance to come inside and glance around the room. The number of monitors flickered in shades of green, showing the more important parts of the club—the main dance area, the VIP seats, entry and exit points, all strategically located. There were several more monitors showing offices and hallways. Nothing above the first floor; the surveillance was made up of several different teams that separately covered each part of the building.

The room itself smelled strongly of sausages and coffee, though Naruto couldn't spot the source of either.

"Ah," came the gasp from behind Naruto. He turned, but it wasn't Sasuke, who had followed him inside. It was the First Guard, looking wide-eyed from Sasuke to Naruto and back again. "Now I see why you were so familiar. You're all over the news."

Quickly, Naruto stepped back to position himself between the man and Sasuke. Chances were small that no one would recognize them to begin with, but he had been hoping that it wouldn't happen so soon. He waited, motionless, hoping against hope that he wouldn't have to hurt anyone. Fortunately, no one was jumping for the phone, even though both guards were staring.

"How do you know Kakashi?" asked the Other Guard.

Naruto decided to go with the truth, "He used to work for my godfather in a security agency."

The First Guard's questioning look softened after his eye flickered up to Naruto's distinctive bright hair. "Ah. I see. You're Minato's kid."

Naruto almost staggered forward in relief, "Yeah."

"And him?" the man nodded behind him, where Sasuke was standing.

"Client."

"So you let him kill someone on your watch?"

Naruto was starting to seriously dislike the First Guard. Maybe the guy knew his father, but Naruto couldn't remember him so he hadn't been a close friend. He was sneering now and his prematurely gray hair looked kind of greasy and ugly in the green light from the monitors.

Naruto stepped back again until he could feel Sasuke behind him. "_He,_ " he emphasized, "hasn't killed anyone. I'd like to go up and see Kakashi now."

There was, of all stupid things, a staring contest following his words. Naruto had just implied that he was the one they should be wary of, but he meant it more like 'my client is innocent' and less like 'I could kill you all if only I could be bothered to raise my hand'. He glared directly into the watery gray eyes until the man scoffed and turned away.

Relieved, Naruto glanced back. Sasuke tore his gaze away from where the guards were whispering to look at him. "Is there a reason you've trapped me in the corner?"

Behind him was indeed a corner of the small room. Naruto hadn't realized that he had retreated so far backwards, though the room was small. He quirked a sheepish smile, "No, not really. I don't think we're in trouble."

"Take the elevator up to the fifth floor," the now familiar, sneering voice said, startling them both. "Someone will be waiting to let you up."

"The elevator? Why not the stairs?" Naruto asked, but he was somewhat relieved. The man obviously disliked him, but if this was the extent of his showing it, then they got off easily. He probably wasn't willing to mess with Kakashi.

"Because I said so. The staircase is locked, take the elevator."

Naruto glared to show how very pissed off he was before turning to let Sasuke out first. The door closed behind them instantly.

"Did your father do something to him?" Sasuke asked after several steps.

"No idea. I've never seen that guy before in my life."

After a minute, as the sound of tuneless club music gradually increased in volume, Sasuke asked, "What's wrong with taking the elevator?"

Naruto smiled. "Nothing, really. It's just on the other side of the building. We have to go directly though the club, and you saw it, it's pretty much full tonight. He's making it as inconvenient as possible."

"Can't we take the stairs anyway?"

"I could smash the door down, sure," Naruto laughed, enjoying the picture of him kicking in the large double door and startling a sea of people. How many of them would recognize him from the news? "But that'd get us too much attention. Would be fun, though."

The door leading out of the basement was locked, as they were told it was. Naruto waved into the security camera and grinned as widely as possible. Nothing happened. He kept waving as Sasuke swore under his breath. It took several long minutes before there was a low buzz and the door opened under Sasuke's hand. The roar of music crashed through the crack, so loud and violent it almost swept them aside.

"I don't like this," Naruto muttered as he passed through the door into small hallway with a couple of doors. "He could make trouble for us."

He got no answer, not that there was anything Sasuke could say to make him feel better.

The small hallway they were in led to a larger one, crowded with people waiting to use the toilets. Looking at the lines of people – some impatiently shifting their weight from one leg to the other, some kissing and groping, some looking just plain bored – Naruto was glad he didn't need to go there. No one spared them more than a glance, despite the old, worn out clothes and the 'wanted' label. Naruto tried sticking to the wall, because it would have been easier to get though and keep an eye on Sasuke that way, but it didn't work out. Too many people retreated back there for a bit of air – or a bit of heavy foreplay. In order to keep Sasuke in sight, Naruto pushed him in front and followed closely, but that didn't turn out all that well, either. Some girl, in a hurry to catch up with someone, had brushed far too close and Naruto felt Sasuke wince in pain in front of him.

They ended up pushing though the crowd side by side, Naruto carefully choosing to walk as a moving obstacle between the dancing wall of people reflecting violent blue and Sasuke's hurt side. The lights were blinding him. He had to hold onto Sasuke so he could keep the acceptable distance; his fingers were wrapped into the material of the jacket where it was covering Sasuke's back.

Once they got through, Naruto instantly let go. He was pretty sure Sasuke was annoyed with him again, but he pretended to look around for a second time so he wouldn't have to acknowledge it.

A short but bulky guy sitting in a chair near the elevators raised an eyebrow as they approached.

"Naruto. To see Kakashi?"

There was no reaction. Gritting his teeth – did that guard from the basement do something else to make it harder? - he jerked his hand to emphasize his hurry, "Today?"

The bulky guy moved slowly, but he did unlock the elevator and let them in. He didn't say anything, but Naruto pushed the button that would send them to the fifth floor. It was where the Drawing Room and the main surveillance system were.

"Is this your way of making friends?" Sasuke asked as soon as the door closed.

"Better than your way," Naruto muttered, annoyance slipping into his voice. So he had been a little brusque; it wasn't the elevator's guy's fault his colleague was a jerk. It wasn't that big of a deal. "At least no one expects breakfast from me in the morning."

Inwardly, he winced as the words came out of his mouth. Reminding Sasuke of the way they'd met when they were both already irritated surely couldn't be a good thing.

"It's hardly his fault you're upset and we can't actually afford to piss off more people in this place. Isn't relying on one asshole's good will per place good enough for you?"

Incredulously, Naruto turned to stare, "Seriously? _You're_ questioning _my_ people skills? You, of all people?"

"Why not?"

"I've been watching you for weeks, remember? You weren't polite to one single person in all that time! Not one! The way you treated your Professor – mentor – you know, the purple sleazy guy - I can't believe he let you into his…" _Snake house_, Naruto was about to finish but instead he waved his hand. He wasn't sure what to call the place that housed all the snakes on campus.

"Some people get off on it," Sasuke answered, folding his arms and ignoring Naruto's disgusted face. "I know very well when to keep my mouth shut – even be nice - and not take out my snit on other people when I depend on them."

"So I'm just an exception then? How flattering."

"You – it's not worth the effort," Sasuke answered, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Thanks. Like I don't feel bad enough about this entire fiasco already."

In silence, the elevator brought them past the third floor.

"I wouldn't call it fiasco. You can't help it if some guy is pissed off with your late father."

"Well, I know for sure I haven't done anything to deserve an effort from you to be nice to me in the last twenty seconds, so keep your pity," Naruto snapped. "And that's not what I was talking about anyway. I know I get distracted easily. I've always had that problem; teachers started warning my parents about it since I was in grade school. But I'm trying and you are quite alive, if a bit wounded, so keep your complaints to yourself."

Naruto didn't feel necessarily better, letting that out…. Alright, maybe he did feel a little bit less like he was going to explode. However, just admitting that he had a problem with focus didn't lessen his fear of forgetting something crucial and getting Sasuke killed. It wouldn't be his first time making a serious mistake because of his forgetfulness. Granted, he had never been in a situation as serious as this one before was and no one had gotten hurt before, but Naruto had long since been aware that he was a less than perfect candidate for the job. That was why he had been avoiding it in the first place all those times Jiraiya had tried to talk him into it, and when Itachi had first asked.

Just as the elevator started slowing down, Sasuke finally said, "There is a difference between making an effort to be nice and being honest. I meant what I said."

Surprised, Naruto turned to him. Sasuke bore his incredulous questioning gaze quite well and Naruto opened his mouth to thank him, this time seriously. It did make him feel a bit better, even if Sasuke hadn't addressed the real problem at all.

"Naruto!"

The voice came from outside of the elevator. Naruto completely missed it open, so he turned to stare, his annoyance coming back. That was exactly what he had been thinking about just a minute ago- someone dangerous could have been waiting on the other side, but he was too distracted by a stupid, useless not-quite compliment and missed it. It was ridiculous.

He only just had the time to register who was it that called his name before Konohamaru jumped on him, making him crash into the mirrored back wall. As if that and the overenthusiastic hug weren't painful enough, Konohamaru proceeded to tangle his fingers in Naruto's hair and kiss him harshly, right on the mouth.

Naruto let out a chain of protesting, if not very understandable, words. He grabbed Konohamaru's shoulders and pushed him away physically. Put out, Konohamaru glared but he stayed as close as Naruto let him, hands on Naruto's forearms.

"Oh, come on! You're not working for my grandfather any longer!"

"You're still a kid."

"I'm of age," Konohamaru countered. Naruto was relieved to see that he was not seriously upset. There was a cute pout on his face, at odds with his fancy silky green shirt that uncovered more flesh than it covered and nice, tight black pants. It made the knot in his chest loosen a bit again. Konohamaru was just playing around, like everything was as it usually was. Some tension left Naruto's shoulders.

"Yes, and I saw in the papers how you celebrated it. I worked my ass off to keep you firmly in closet and you go out and grope a man who could be your father in the middle of the city square?"

"Yeah, well. He had a nice bum," Konohamaru snickered. "You know how I am with those."

Naruto knew how he was with nice bums well enough to take the edges of his ratty shirt and drag it to cover his own bottom. Konohamaru wasn't averse to pinching hard enough to leave bruises; he had vivid, uncomfortable memories of it. But despite such behavior, Konohamaru wasn't really all that promiscuous, he was – mostly - just teasing. He could afford it, with the constant personal protection his grandfather was paying for generously.

And maybe Naruto wasn't judging too harshly because he knew a thing or two about teenagers with busy parents and how they sometimes seek attention in unhealthy ways. Even if his own tactics had usually involved more guns than sex.

Still snickering, Konohamaru let go of him. With relief, Naruto edged toward Sasuke, who didn't seem at all affected by the scene. The door of the elevator was being held open by a wide guy in a black suit – unmistakably Konohamaru's bodyguard – and he nodded his greeting when Naruto glanced at him. Similarly, Konohamaru scanned Sasuke up and down, frowned and turned his gaze back to Naruto.

"You need to dye your hair."

Panicked, Naruto protested, "I like my hair. It's nice and bright."

That made Konohamaru smile. "I like it, too. But you should dye it."

"It's a good idea," Sasuke said. Naruto gave him his most hurt, betrayed look, though he was warming up to the idea already. He had no time to consider it before, but he would see what he could do about it. It was nice of Konohamaru not to ask not to ask about what had happened and if he had really helped kill someone and offer helpful suggestions instead. Maybe he really wasn't a kid any longer.

Unaware of his thoughts, Sasuke explained about the hair, "It's very distinct. Easily identifiable."

"And you should cut yours," Konohamaru added. It was directed to Sasuke. This time, Naruto barely held his tongue as Sasuke nodded with a small frown. He liked Sasuke's hair. It was longish, but quite soft and it looked nice on him just as it was…

Well, it wasn't any of his business. He had no place thinking about how nice Sasuke's hair was under his fingers anyway. And cutting it could help, especially as the picture he saw of Sasuke on TV was with even longer hair. Such drastic contrast would fool some people.

"Were you going down?" he asked Konohamaru. His tone had cooled as the result of the self-disapproving emotional rollercoaster, but the boy didn't look put out.

"No, I was waiting for you. Kakashi told me you'd stop by when I asked him about – you know, about the stuff on television."

He still didn't ask anything, but Naruto offered anyway, "It isn't true."

Solemnly, Konohamaru nodded, "Thought so. Come on, Kakashi is waiting for you!"

Once they were out of the elevator, there was nothing in sight to suggest that they were in the same building as the club downstairs. It was because they had reached the built-on part of the establishment. It was all so obviously new - shiny floors, freshly done walls, modern lamps and tasteful chandeliers. It was also just as peaceful as Naruto remembered it. It wasn't silent; there was some music coming from the small stage room – the one they were actually calling The Drawing Room. But after the noise and the stuffiness of downstairs, it was very pleasant up here.

Sasuke was looking around, eyebrows slightly raised, as if he was to expecting to stumble across something interesting. If he ever wanted to come back here, Itachi's name would probably get him through. Naruto didn't like the idea, but he did like knowing things Sasuke didn't. He hurried a bit so they were side by side.

Nodding toward the white double doors at the side of the room, he whispered, "The music is coming from the Drawing Room." For a moment, Naruto thought that Sasuke was annoyed with him, but if he was, his curiosity got the better of him so he glanced in the direction Naruto pointed out. "It's the main room, actually, where the bar is and a small stage for when there's a special program on. It's technically forbidden to do any of the heavier stuff there, but… You can't actually forbid anything to these people. A few drinks and some of them forget that the room is under heavy surveillance."

"What happens with the tapes?"

It had been ages since the tapes were not in use, not that it changed the answer. "Dutifully erased every 24 hours, if there's no problem."

"So this is like a brothel?" Sasuke asked. He kept his voice quiet, but there was an edge there.

"Like a really expensive hotel and brothel in one. They can provide you with, er, company, if you're a total dolt but have money, but they also provide you with ultimate protection from just about anything, from a sore ass to media scandal." They were passing one of the side hallways, so Naruto gestured toward the sparse line of doors. "Some of the rooms are over there, and lawyer's and doctor's offices. The really good, private rooms are someplace else. Upstairs, I think. I've never been there."

"You haven't?"

"'Course not, Konohamaru wasn't of age.

"I didn't think that would matter here."

"Maybe it doesn't," Naruto admitted. Some guys he'd seen moving up from the Drawing Room did look a little bit too young at the time. "Konohamaru's grandfather might have had a word with someone."

Konohamaru, who was walking ahead, reached the familiar corner door of the surveillance room, meant to cover the upper parts of the establishment and yelled, "Naruto's here!"

Naruto pushed past him into the room. It wasn't all that different from the one downstairs, except it smelled much better. Air freshener with the scent of lemon hid any smells of food.

But Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"Er…" Konohamaru voiced Naruto's confusion. "Where is Kakashi? He was just here!"

The only other person in there, an unfamiliar woman with entirely too much bulk in the chest area, shrugged him off, too busy watching something on one of the screens. She should have been more upset with Konohamaru walking in and bringing people along to the surveillance room. Clearly, they were expected.

"Over here."

The voice came from behind them. Of course it came from behind. It was Kakashi. He lived for a chance to startle someone out of their pants.

Naruto grinned from relief and familiarity and stepped back, aiming to greet Kakashi properly. Kakashi hit him on the head, just over his left ear as soon as he was in range.

"Gah," Naruto moaned. It _hurt_. Kakashi's knuckles were sharp and hard when they connected. "What's that for?"

"For being a dumbass, obviously."

"'M not a dumbass."

Sasuke snorted softly. He was keeping close and eying Kakashi with curiosity and… Naruto blinked. Curiosity, and a burning hope that lit his features like bonfire.

"Then how come I found out that Jiraiya is in the hospital from Iruka?"

_Yeah, good old Kakashi; straight to the point. _Naruto fixed him with a glare.

"I guess you aren't as all-knowing as I hoped."

"I'm not an omniscient deity, if there is no reason for me to look into something, I don't," Kakashi answered. He nodded to the woman in the room with them and she left promptly. Kakashi slid further into the room and propped himself against a desk, next to Konohamaru. "I had a fun day catching up with your antics today, though. And I have to ask, you realize - have you lost your mind?"

"That's a little harsh."

Naruto, for some reason, didn't expect of Sasuke to talk at all, not to mention in his defense. It startled him, but he had no time to react because Kakashi took Sasuke in for the first time and shot back.

"I make it a point to not consider seriously the opinion of people who get themselves wounded."

Naruto's felt as his jaw stiffen. He was the one who got Sasuke wounded and Kakashi knew that. "If you don't want to help, then just say so."

Kakashi turned again to look at him. He seemed… surprised, for an entire second there. "I wasn't talking about the job. That seems to be working out fine for now. You should have asked for help with Jiraiya."

"Ask who?" Naruto demanded. "You? You're not my father. You're not even old enough to be my father."

"How about your Godmother? I called her today to gather some info, and she had absolutely no idea what was going on – apart from the fact that you are a wanted criminal and she can't get in touch with you or Jiraiya. She's worried sick."

"They hate each other, why would she pay for his hospital bills?"

"She would have helped _you_ even if they do hate each other because she cares about you and you were in trouble. You are too stubborn and proud for your own good, kid. Was taking this job really worth it?"

"Jiraiya is in a better place thanks to it," Naruto said and winced at the word choice. "Literally, I mean, in a better hospital."

Kakashi studied him for a bit, his gaze occasionally flickering to Sasuke, who was staring at the blank wall, expressionless. "Yes, he is. And he said hi and don't get yourself killed."

That finally made Naruto smile a little. "I'm trying. It's not going all that well."

"He'll survive."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. He would probably survive. Naruto would definitely try his best to make sure of it.

"Did you hear something about his brother?" Naruto asked. He thought about adding Itachi's name, but… Shaking off the instinct that Kakashi knew everything wasn't easy. Especially when talking to him.

"There is a good chance that he is alive," Kakashi answered easily, giving a small little sympathetic smile to Sasuke. "I haven't managed to contact him directly, but I have a very good reason to believe that that is exactly how he wanted it."

Naruto was relived, but before he could say anything, Sasuke asked, "What reason? How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not sure. But they wouldn't still be after him if he wasn't alive, I know that much," Kakashi answered with that small smile still on his face. "Itachi is very fortunate he has survived the first wave of the clean-up. He was right on the top of the list."

"Wait, I heard about that, Iruka mentioned it, said that the Shelter was full because of it. What clean-up? What's going on?"

Kakashi cocked his head and regarded Naruto carefully. Sasuke let out a noise that could have been name-calling, with how crude it sounded.

Konohamaru answered – well, in a way, "The – the clean-up, you know? It's been on TV for weeks?"

Naruto had no idea what he was talking about. "I've had no time to watch TV for months." And when he did have time, he was watching other stuff, not news or other informative programs. In retrospect, that was a mistake. He hadn't even thought about it; it was a longstanding habit to let Jiraiya and Sakura fill him in on all important things.

"Someone – an organization or so the news says – has been wiping the city clean of all known 'criminals'," Sasuke offered, "I thought you knew that, when you told me you saved Itachi's life."

"Ah," Kakashi said, like all his puzzle pieces finally fit together, "so that was you? About two weeks ago?"

"Yeah, behind that club of his. Ibiki helped me get Sakura and Ino in to celebrate, but I was too tired so I slipped out just as Itachi was coming in. It was an accident."

"It was someone from the building across the street."

It wasn't even a question, but Naruto nodded at Sasuke anyway. They should have talked before about it. Just, without knowing if Itachi was okay, it was somehow hard. "How'd you know?"

"There was a dead body found in an apartment on the third floor in that building. About two weeks ago." On Kakashi's raised eyebrow, Sasuke snapped, "What? It's my brother's place. Of course I'd notice if it was mentioned on television."

"And he hasn't contacted you since?"

"No."

Kakashi raised that eyebrow higher, "He didn't contact you at all?"

"They don't really talk," Naruto offered. "Something about Itachi's work and its negative influence on people trying to live normally or something."

Kakashi didn't even spare him a glance. Sasuke pursed his lips and admitted, finally, "We don't talk. Itachi is… It doesn't matter. We don't talk on the phone or visit or anything like that."

"But?" Kakashi prompted.

"But he would leave me these… messages, so I'd know he's alright. Like I would go to the local store to find out that the store card I've set there is paid off, or there would be an icebox of frozen mice for Manda left at Orochimaru's lab with my name on it."

"I see," Kakashi said. "Has there been anything like that in the last few weeks?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing important."

"Sasuke, I'm not working for you. I'm trying to help because the situation is very serious. This is not how they work. No matter who your brother is, they would never go after you if they didn't have a reason." Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets. Naruto decided to let Kakashi push just a little bit further, because if there was something there, they really needed to know. "And I can't think of a reason. I checked you out, and you're clean. Your only connection to all this is Itachi. I need to know why they thought killing you was a good idea, when they never even went after Naruto who actively helped Itachi."

Sasuke pulled out his hands out of his pockets and offered something to Kakashi. Naruto had to lean over to see. It was a piece of paper. Kakashi opened it. The message there was short and to the point, _don't worry_.

"I found it in my mailbox when I came home," Sasuke halted, as if counting days in his head, "not last night, but the one before."

Kakashi glanced sharply at Naruto, "Were you working then?"

Naruto thought about it. "The night before – yeah, we took over on campus because he was late, cleaning some dead snake's cage. I remained in the van to listen and Karin…"

Karin had followed Sasuke until he had entered his building. She had gone to the apartment across the street once she had made sure he was safe inside.

Making sure he was safe inside sometimes involved staying across the street while Sasuke went though his mail. If you wanted to be thorough. And who could be more thorough when it came to Sasuke than Karin?

"It's not what you think," Naruto gritted out.

"I didn't tell you what I think."

Naruto heard and ignored Kakashi, "There's no way. Not her. I mean, she was – well, a right bitch sometimes, but she wouldn't do that to Sasuke. There's just no way."

She was too much in love. Wasn't she?

"You think she – what, that she'd been working for someone else?" Sasuke wanted to know. "Because she was following me when I got the note?"

"It's just a speculation. It could be that they're after you for something else," Kakashi explained.

"But if it's that note, if they thought Itachi wrote who knows what to you, then… Karin was the one following you when you got it. She saw it. Maybe she mentioned it to someone, by accident?"

Kakashi gave him a look that clearly said that he thought that very unlikely. Karin was a professional. She was a decent at her job and Naruto knew that very well.

"I'll look into that girl and we'll see," Kakashi said. He turned back to Sasuke, "Are you sure that was it? There were no other messages from Itachi? Maybe something you missed?"

"Nothing. Itachi wouldn't send something I'd miss."

Kakashi looked like he would push. And even though he had the right to do it if he was going to help, Naruto's priority was Sasuke. He interrupted, "So Manda's your snake, right? I wonder what happened to it."

"My neighbor from upstairs probably took him. She takes care of him when I'm out of town."

"So I don't get it," Konohamaru butt in, frowning. "Who is that girl? Where is she now?"

"She's dead," Naruto explained. "She was working with me; Itachi hired four of us to keep an eye on Sasuke."

"But if she betrayed you, then she isn't dead, right?"

That was… good. It _was_. "The other two guys are definitely dead."

"And they were just hired help. Why would they kill them?"

Naruto couldn't give Konohamaru an answer; he had been asking himself the same question over and over again.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "I have no idea – but they're so well organized. And well trained," he added, remembering how the guy in the apartment had been completely silent, even with that horrible wound. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they were…"

"Trained by government?" Kakashi finished for him. "That's because it's true. That's not a secret at all on the streets; Iruka would have told you if you'd asked. They _are_ the police – actually, they are selected from the police department to form a special unit for Mayor's special program of cleaning up this city."

Naruto ignored Sasuke's pointed look. He was in too much shock to be upset about not being right when Sasuke was. The police? That guy in the apartment - he really was a cop?

"You've got to be kidding me."

The new Mayor, the youngish guy that won the election when Konohamaru's grandfather retired, had been the talk of the city for so long. Naruto remembered him vaguely from the posters. He had bright titian hair and hadn't acted as happy as someone who had won should. There was a well-known interview that had been re-played on television to no end and was available on YouTube. Sakura told Naruto that it was very touching, that the Mayor explained how he had been a refugee from a county shattered by war and forced to grow up as an orphan, sometimes bullied and forced to climb his way up from the nastiest, lowest layers of society.

"No, I'm afraid not. The rumor is that he is a little bit crazy, obsessed with Plato's dialogs."

"Plato's what?" Naruto wanted to know - and he was pretty sure the Konohamaru demanded something along the same line at the same time.

But Sasuke didn't have a problem following, if his incredulous, "So he's trying to create Magnesia out of our city?" was anything to go by.

"Exactly. He is taking Plato's fantasy, a city made up in philosophical debate, and trying to create it."

"Magnesia's economy was based in slavery, though."

Kakashi shrugged slightly, "I'm afraid it's not my theory and that I'm not very familiar with Plato's dialogs. But I'm sure changes were made to fit a better society today. The core of it is the same, though – he is trying to turn this city into ideal place, a paradise on Earth."

"By killing off all criminals?" Naruto demanded. As he listened to that slightly confusing conversation the shock was slowly fading and he was getting more and more angry. "And everyone who gets in the way?"

"There are other things, too. He's using every ounce of authority he has and doesn't give up once he has his mind set on something," Kakashi explained. "I think it's best you two leave town for now."

"What?" How could Kakashi even suggest that? "I don't want to leave, this is my home! I won't let some insane jerk come here and chase me out! We can't let him just do this!"

"Obviously," Kakashi calmly said. "But it's not the time yet."

"I have to fight," Naruto repeated.

"And you will, when we have more info and a good plan of action," Kakashi allowed. "For now, you have a client to take care for. Leaving town is the best strategy, because they don't follow anyone out. It's a matter of jurisdiction."

Naruto nodded stiffly. Kakashi was right; he had to think about Sasuke first… But there was no way he would just sit on his ass and let some crazy fucker kill people randomly in his city.

"How do we even get out? Do they watch the exit points?"

"There is a safe route. I can get you both out before dawn, but I have several things to finish first."

"Right," Naruto said. He looked at Sasuke, who had a blank expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. "Right. But where are we supposed to go?"

"Tsunade's?"

"No!" There were enough people in danger already. His Godmother didn't have to be one of them. "I don't want her involved in this."

"They won't follow you out of the city."

"Yeah, I know you said so. But, Kakashi, that guy is crazy. He might change his mind or something. I don't want her to be in danger."

Kakashi sighed, "Fine then. The Subaku Farm."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest again. He had lived on the Subaku Farm several times when his parents were alive. He hated it. He hated it so much, and with a good reason.

Kakashi noticed his unwillingness and raised a hand, "I know. I have no place else to send you on such short notice. You and Gaara always got along well, he will make sure you are comfortable."

Reluctantly, Naruto nodded.

"Get some rest, then," Kakashi instructed.

Konohamaru jumped off the table he was sitting on. "Finally! Let's go, you can use my room upstairs."

Gesturing that Sasuke should start moving and ignoring the annoyed look he got in turn, Naruto asked, "You still keep a room here? I didn't think it mattered now, after your grandpa retired."

Konohamaru smiled slyly, "But you never know who it is I'll be dating. Come on, I can't wait to see you with dark hair. I bet your eyes are gonna look stunning."

Naruto groaned, "But I like my hair like this."

They headed out; Konohamaru leading the way. Sasuke impatiently pushed Naruto though the door, not giving him the opportunity to turn and wave at Kakashi.

Naruto had a feeling that it was going to be a long night, especially with Konohamaru, who seemed determined to stick close by, with that wicked grin on his face. He was way too cheerful about Naruto having to dye his hair. And Sasuke was too upset with everything they just heard, despite reassurances that Itachi was most likely alright.

And Naruto was stuck in between them.


	7. Ch6: The Delirium of the Brave

.

Part Six

**The Delirium of the Brave**

(Plato of Your Kind)

* * *

Getting out of the shower, towel in hand, Naruto caught his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. He frowned. It looked weird. Even though it had been almost an entire week since he had let Konohamaru dye his hair in the luxurious marble bathroom of upper floors of 'Fireland', he couldn't get used to it. It wasn't that it looked bad, exactly - the color wasn't too dark, some shade of chocolate brown that almost had a red tint… But it was weird to look in the mirror and not see his bright hair.

He could already see the roots when he looked carefully, though. That little sign, not visible without careful inspection, reassured him a little.

Naruto scowled one last time at the mirror, like he did every morning after his hair would dry from the shower, and left the spotless white bathroom. It was private, connected to his room, so he didn't bother to do anything but bring his towel along to finish drying off. The room was warm, but the weak winter sun made the bland, colorless furniture look gloomy. Naruto put on the clothes he'd previously prepared, with his back to the small wall mirror over the toiletry table.

He checked the cell phone Kakashi had left for him. The battery was practically full and there were no new messages, nor any missed calls. He put it into his pocket. It was very light, a far cry from the comfortable weight of the gun he had been forced to stop wearing a couple days before.

The Sabaku Farm was almost exactly the same as he remembered it from when he was a kid. Almost, but not quite. There had been a beautiful rose garden in front the house back then. In its place now was a patch of nothing and even though it could have been because it was almost winter, Naruto suspected it looked just the same in summer. There was an unkempt feeling to the property. Parts of the fences were broken. There were potholes in the lane that lead to the house. Trees Naruto had loved to climb when his parents could bring him along were chopped down, without even a stump left to mark where they used to be.

Since their parents were killed, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari just didn't seem to care about the Farm enough to maintain the beauty that once characterized the grounds. But the house itself and the training grounds were impeccably kept. There was no lack of money flowing in, after all.

The biggest difference was that Naruto was now allowed access to all those places he had needed to sneak into before. The grounds were huge. The property was known as the Sabaku Farm because once upon a time that was what it was, but for a long time already a few apple trees were the only remnants of the crops and produce. In fact, there were entire areas of land where all vegetation had been purposely destroyed so no one would have to bother maintaining it. Even in the stables, you could only find a couple of horses, despite the fact that Temari loved riding.

There was a knock on the door. Naruto glanced at the clock on the wall. Gaara was, like always, right on time. It was exactly ten to nine in the morning, even though the light was so dim and gray it felt as if the day had only just dawned.

"Morning," he called, opening the door. Gaara nodded in response. It was becoming a ritual, really. Gaara always headed to his room later than anyone, but he would be in the dining room every morning at nine exactly no matter what. In the last week, he had taken to knocking at Naruto's door on his way so they would walk there together. Seeing how Sasuke was always back in his own room - or any other place where Naruto wasn't, obviously avoiding him - Gaara's weird friendliness was welcome. Even if his face remained as expressionless as always.

Usually, they were silent if Naruto wasn't in the mood to chat aimlessly. He was therefore surprised when Gaara spoke just as they reached the staircase, "I've wondered if I could ask you for a favor."

"Sure," Naruto answered instantly and then wished he was alone so he could bang his head against a wall. He needed to build a brick wall between his brain and his tongue, to stop the words from sliding down as soon as they were formed. What if Gaara needed help with some horrible, obscure thing? What if he wanted him to fight?

"Last night, one of our referees got hurt. I will go after breakfast to find someone to replace him, but we need someone to stand in."

Naruto thought about it before answering this time. He had gone to see the fights several times since they'd come to stay on the Farm. They were… both the most thrilling and most disgusting things he had ever seen in his life, and so far he had only seen ranking matches.

"Well…. What exactly would I have to do?"

"Interfere only if someone is about to die. Or if you see any weapons," Gaara explained. "It's quite rare for anyone to try either one, but we need someone to keep an eye out."

Because, obviously, he and Kankuro were keeping an eye on the betting pool and were thus too busy to be referees. Temari wasn't fond of it, so she stayed away, mostly dealing with the legal processes and the Farm's financial books.

"But you have all those other fighters, couldn't they stop the fight?"

"Only one person is allowed into the ring, close enough to see everything. It has to be someone I trust who won't be slacking off or getting carried away in the heat of the fight."

Naruto sighed. He was officially trapped. He wasn't too sure if Gaara had done it on purpose or not, because it was really hard to say, but it wasn't important in the end. If it was a matter of safety and Gaara could only trust Naruto with it…

"Fine, I'll do it. I owe you much more than that, anyway."

"You don't owe us anything."

They had been over this before. The Sabaku Farm was under the jurisdiction of a town nearby. Authorities were bribed into pretending they had no idea what happened on the Farm and they had very few ties with Naruto's city and the new, crazy Mayor. They were not actively in any danger. Those inside with them wouldn't tell anybody because no-one wanted the city's police force on the Farm. The Sabaku family could easily afford to provide a few guests with clothes and food.

After those horrible couple of days he'd spent trying to keep Sasuke alive, Naruto couldn't help but feel very grateful. Temari and Kankuro didn't question it, but it was Gaara who took the call Kakashi had transferred to Naruto when the connection was made. He was the one who had said yes without hesitation, after confirming that he knew that Naruto was in trouble.

"Well, either way," he allowed, despite wanting to protest and express his gratitude again. They were just about to make the turn to the dining room; the heavy aroma of French toast was already affecting his salivary glands. "I'll do it."

Gaara nodded again and let him though the white double door first. Naruto grinned and took him on it.

* * *

Sasuke, of course, wasn't there. He was never where everyone else was - not for a meal, not for a conversation and certainly not to help Naruto's strained nerves. Ever since they had arrived, Naruto had to go and seek him out if he ever wanted to talk to Sasuke. It wasn't a huge ordeal, because Sasuke was in his room most of the time, but it was annoying. If he would just come out occasionally, they wouldn't have to spend five minutes in the room alone together when Naruto went to check on him. Sasuke was mostly quiet on those occasions and Naruto would steadily get more and more annoyed with his unsuccessful efforts to get anything out of him, both avoiding looking at the other.

Once he was done, Naruto fixed a sandwich and stood up from the table.

"He's out."

Startled, Naruto stopped. Temari didn't bother to look up from the pile of paper she was going though. "What?"

"Your friend, I saw him when he went out for a walk," she frowned. "I think he went out for a walk, he didn't actually bother saying anything. What else would he be doing?"

"Right," Naruto said. "Do you know which direction he was headed?"

"Stables," Temari answered through a mighty yawn and sipped her coffee. Her hair was messy, falling wildly out of the loose tails she'd made on both sides. It was almost the exact shade as Naruto's was before Konohamaru ruined him with dye.

Naruto wrapped the sandwich and two extra napkins and headed out, wondering idly from whom Temari had gotten her hair when her mother was a redhead, like Gaara and her father a brunet, like Kankuro.

He glanced back at the house. It was huge and gray from the stone it was built from, shaped more like an eastern royal palace than anything else Naruto had ever seen. There was a wide terrace over the entrance, uncovered and resting on plain pillars. Naruto remembered having breakfast there once with his parents when he was about eight years old. His father had been sneaking strawberries behind his mother's back, because she had wanted him to wash his hands first. Naruto had thrown most of them at a scowling Gaara with a disturbingly ugly teddy bear clutched in his hands. It was the best memory of the Sabaku Farm Naruto had.

It was almost a half mile walk before Naruto reached the stables. By then, small drops of rain had begun to fall more heavily. Even in such a gloomy atmosphere, it was beautiful out there. The building itself, all red brick, was so old and so lovely anyone would mistake it for a house.

Naruto entered it hastily though the front door, to escape the wind that was picking up. He shook his head, in a futile attempt to get the rain out of his hair. It was oddly quiet inside, and the smell was not nearly as unpleasant as Naruto remembered it to be.

Sasuke was standing at the other entrance, the wide one used for horses. The sliding door was half way open, leading from the electrically lit interior into gray curtain of rain outside. Sasuke, leaning against the door frame with one shoulder, didn't turn. Maybe he hadn't even heard Naruto walk in.

Naruto wondered if he could give the completely drenched and soggy sandwich to the horses. Without anyone around to ask, he didn't want to risk it so he put it back in his pocket and crossed the hallway.

He leaned on the other side of the door frame. The view was nice; a small wood of evergreen trees lay slightly to the left. They also looked diminished, like the rest of the world did in the winter, but not as naked and dead as the apple trees around the main house.

"I heard from Itachi."

Naruto smiled, because Sasuke sounded relieved. "That's great. What did he say?"

"Sorry."

"Er, what?"

"He said he was sorry for putting me in danger."

"He should be."

Sasuke glanced sideways at him. Naruto could feel his eyes. "He's my only family, Naruto."

"So? Aren't you his only family as well?"

Sasuke turned back to look outside. After a moment, he spoke, "I don't want to talk about that."

"It's an improvement either way," Naruto pointed out. "I didn't have to threaten or plead with you for words today."

"I was worried."

Naruto hummed and left it at that. He knew, of course, that it couldn't be easy. He had been calling Jiraiya twice a day ever since Kakashi had given him a phone he could use. Itachi was in a completely different kind of danger and they only had Kakashi's word on his status. Naruto thought about Itachi talking with forced patience into his cell to who was supposed to be a woman with a wrong number and offered, honestly, "I'm glad he's okay."

And he got a smile in response. Maybe someone else in his place, someone who had never been in a position to watch for endless hours as Sasuke went though his everyday motions, wouldn't know to appreciate it, even if they knew how rare it was. But Naruto had been in that position and knew the true value of such an honest, open smile, so he grinned back.

"So you're not working for us any longer."

Well, there went that happy feeling.

Sasuke had yet to take that smile off his face, so Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I'm not?"

They were facing each other by that point, still leaned against their respective sides of the door frame. Sasuke's hands were behind his back, deliberate protection from ice-cold iron for the skin hidden only by a semi-thick sweater. Safety of his brother did wonders for him; it drained all the tension, brightened his features and yeah, put that wonderful smile on his face.

Aware of it but unable to help himself, Naruto licked his lips.

"You're not. The job was never meant to be as challenging as it turned out to be, anyway."

"But, they're still looking for you," Naruto insisted. He didn't want to be discharged; he didn't want to trust someone else with Sasuke's safety. He didn't want to be pushed away. "You're still in danger. Not at the moment, obviously and Kakashi assured me that he would be starting up the plan – whatever that plan is – soon, but..."

"Either way, it's not your job to keep me safe any longer," Sasuke repeated, grimacing slightly as if the words tasted bad. Naruto told himself that it was because he hated needing protection and not that he hated having Naruto do it. It still hurt.

"Right," he said, looking anywhere but at Sasuke. It wasn't right at all, so he changed the subject, "Gaara asked me to stand in for the referee tonight."

"For what?"

Oh, yeah, Sasuke had stayed in his room all week. Naruto had gone to see a couple of fights, more from the lack of anything else to do than because he was particularly interested, but Sasuke had refused to come along when he was invited.

"You know, the ultimate fighting tournaments? Weren't you listening when I asked you if you wanted to come?"

"I thought the farm workers had a fight. There's a tournament?"

"It's part of the training for actual tournaments, so they're basically fighting among themselves. How did you ever get the idea that there were farmers in this place? It's deader than a wasteland. Cactus wouldn't grow if you watered it twice a day."

Sasuke lifted a shoulder in a small shrug, "There could have been some crops or cattle somewhere. I didn't bother asking what they grow, but assumed you called it a farm for a reason."

"It used to be a farm a long time ago. Now the only things they're growing are the fighters. There's a lot of prize money involved, and betting pools are huge even when it's just an inside match."

"And Gaara asked you to be a referee."

"For a night, yeah."

"Is it illegal?" Sasuke questioned, though he looked more surprised than upset with the prospect.

Naruto snorted a laugh, "Asks the guy who killed a cop, according to the authorities."

Sasuke just continued looking at him.

"Just like every other place I've taken you to, it's partially illegal at best. But it's not stepping on any human rights or stuff like that, because everyone is there of his own free will." That wasn't completely true and Naruto was aware that his voice turned a little bitter. Sasuke noticed it as well. He raised his eyebrow, so Naruto explained, "That's what they tell me. Fighters do sign contracts of their own free will and that is the part of it that is actually legal – unlike some of what happens during the tournaments. But no one cares that some of those people are forced to do this or die from hunger. No one wants to hire unstable war veterans, ex-convicts with a desire to stay clean or people discharged from mental institutions."

"You hate it."

"Of course I hate it. That's why I didn't want to come at first." Sasuke nodded, frowning at something in the distance that Naruto couldn't see though the fog. "On the other hand the Shelter is completely illegal, but..."

"But you don't care, because it helps people. Even people who didn't deserve it."

"You give help to those who need it, not to those who deserve it."

Sasuke fell silent. He wasn't back to his old tense self, but there was not a trace of that smile left on his face and he had his arms wrapped around him in that unconsciously self-protecting manner. Of course, maybe Naruto just imagined the smile in the first place. And maybe Sasuke was protecting himself from the icy draft Naruto was semi-successfully ignoring so far, not something more menacing.

Once he thought about it, he was suddenly cold, like the feeling had switched on in his brain. Wind was tugging at his hair and clothes, and nipping at the little of his skin that was exposed. Naruto removed himself from the direct exposure to the wind and went to stand on Sasuke's other side, where it wasn't nearly as drafty.

"I guess," Sasuke spoke after a while, turning his head just enough to show that he was aware that Naruto moved. "That at least explains why you were claiming to be so bad at the job when it's fairly obvious that isn't true."

He looked over his shoulder expectantly. Naruto had no idea what he was talking about, but he did notice that he had moved a little bit too close.

"Naruto?"

"I've no idea what are you talking about."

"Maybe body guarding involves protecting people, but you need more than that. You need to fix the problem. I'm safe, mostly thanks to you, and you don't work for me any longer, but you won't feel happy about the job you did unless Itachi joins the Tibetan monks so his enemies won't ever," Sasuke twisted his mouth as he finished, "pick on me again."

Naruto thought about it. "Well, no, not really. I mean, you wouldn't get to see him at all if he moved to Tibet, right?

"So not even 'safely ever after' is good enough for you. It has to be 'happily ever after'."

"No, 'safely ever after' is usually fine with me." Naruto quirked a grin he hoped didn't look as sad as it felt. "I guess you're an exception, then."

It didn't matter in the end. Naruto spent so much time thinking that he just wasn't good enough for the job. His reflexes were excellent; he had picked up martial arts from the very best and suppressed them all, using a gun was like second nature to him now and his aim was flawless. He had his not so good points – code work, long term planning, electronics… But they weren't exactly bad and you never worked a job alone.

Jiraiya had told him once that he was over-thinking things and that it wasn't doing him any favors because he was just dulling the natural instincts he had been born with. He made mistakes because he was trying to think instead of act, when he was clearly not made for it. But it was so hard to rely on people with shady motivation.

Which meant that Sasuke was right. He'd be much better suited for a job that he had no doubts would result in making things better permanently.

Maybe he should be a cop. He could find ways to help Iruka and the Shelter that way as well as have the legal right to deal with people who hurt others.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. I used to love it; I used to always demand that my parents tell me every last detail when they'd come home in the evenings. And it's fun sometimes. Protecting Konohamaru was fun – and you..."

Sasuke turned to face him. His arms unwrapped as soon as he stepped out of the wind, closer. "Don't tell me you thought that was fun."

"No," Naruto decided, remembering Sasuke's apartment, his hands and his mouth. "No, it was amazing. I wish..."

His wish came true before he voiced it, because Sasuke kissed him. He didn't just lean in, he pressed his entire body against Naruto, insistently pushing until Naruto's back was against the hard, cold surface. Responding to it was so natural that Naruto opened up to it instantly despite his surprise and wonder. It was just as amazing as he remembered, or maybe better because Sasuke knew exactly who he was kissing now. He fit perfectly into Naruto's arms as they wrapped around him, so he closed his eyes and relaxed, melting into the wonderful warmth and Sasuke's familiar scent.

When the kiss ended, Naruto tilted his head up so Sasuke could do whatever it was that he intended when he mapped the line down his neck. There was just a suggestion of teeth against the sensitive skin before Sasuke murmured, letting out a cloud of hot air, "Let's go back."

Naruto wasn't ready yet to move, but he nodded his acceptance anyway and then stalled by sneaking his hands downward to pull Sasuke even closer. They were both dressed in thick winter clothes, but it still felt wonderful.

He didn't let Sasuke automatically take control of the next kiss and with both of them urging responses from the other vigorously, they soon had to break apart to get some air.

It took them several long minutes, but they finally separated to head back toward the main house.

* * *

Temari met them in the hall.

"You have visitors," she told Sasuke. There went Naruto's plan to drag him up to his room and in the shower.

"Itachi? But…"

"Finally!" Naruto interrupted, because for a moment there, Sasuke looked like he was about to bolt. Maybe later, he could find out why. "I have some questions for him!"

He started walking toward the room Temari had come from, but Sasuke caught the hem of his sleeve, "You're not working for him any longer."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, and he'd paid upfront. Isn't that awesome?"

"What are you planning to ask him?"

"Oh, you know," Naruto answered, yanking his hand free. "First I'll tell him that he is the world's greatest asshole and stuff like that."

Temari disappeared, but he kept walking toward the door she'd been at. His drenched shoes squeaked with every step and made him feel like he was about to sink though the floor.

Sasuke protested, "He was trying to take care of me."

Naruto ignored him, "Then I'll ask him if he knows about Karin and the others and if he doesn't use any of those creepy smiles, I'll tell him that I'm really sorry I almost got you killed."

Behind him, Sasuke stopped and grabbed him again. This time his fingers dug into Naruto's forearm. "Naruto."

"Hmm?"

"Let me go see him alone."

"What? Why?"

"You can talk to him later. I just… I haven't seen him in a really long time."

"Ah." Sasuke didn't want him to ruin the reunion. It kind of hurt, but it wasn't like he didn't understand. There was a lot he wanted to tell Itachi but maybe it wasn't the right moment. "Well."

"I need to talk to him," Sasuke insisted, looking over Naruto's shoulder at the door. He probably meant alone, and yeah, that made a lot of sense.

"Okay, I'll just – I'll go back to my room then. I have to change these anyway – they're all clammy."

"Thank you," Sasuke smiled, and Naruto saw the difference between Sasuke's honest and nice, just like they had talked about in the elevator previous week.

He had already agreed. Sasuke's reasons had been sound. But it was so obvious it would blind Naruto if he kept looking at Sasuke's face, so he looked away and turned to leave.

Sasuke was lying.

"You're welcome," he gritted out over his shoulder. "That was a rather decent attempt at being nice, after all. You totally deserve to get me out of your way for it."

"That's not what I'm doing."

Naruto stopped on the first of many steps upward. "Then what are you doing?"

Sasuke offered no answer, so Naruto continued climbing step after step without looking back.

Back in his room, he started pulling off the wet clothes from the moment he walked through the door. They were sodden and disgusting. He needed to get to the shower as soon as possible. A soggy sandwich was still in his pocket. Naruto threw it into the trashcan next to the toilet seat.

He had been hoping he wouldn't have to take this shower alone. The odds had seemed great.

For the last week, it had been so hard to think of other things. He kept telling himself that he had messed up and had no right to push Sasuke to spend time with him. But he missed it, he missed not being alone, he missed the way Sasuke fought with him and sometimes cooperated, the way he smelled.

Too upset to do anything about it, Naruto ignored the erection that reacted to the memories and the warmth of the water. He finished washing as quickly as possible and decided that the best way to waste time would be to watch some television.

* * *

He woke up in the middle of a long, loud thunderclap. For a moment, he was sure that that was what had woken him but then the knocking started again.

"Come in!" Naruto shouted. His voice was cracking. What time was it? How long had he been asleep?

He had been watching a reality show about fishermen in some northern sea, stretched across the bottom of the bed. He had nodded off just like that, without covering himself or shifting so his feet wouldn't hang over the edge.

The door opened. Naruto sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes. It must have been because of the rain, but despite the good night's sleep and the long nap, he still wanted to lie back down and continue where he'd left off.

Sasuke stepped inside, bare feet quiet on the thick carpet, and closed the door behind him without a word.

"So," Naruto croaked out. He had to clear his throat before continuing, "How did it go?"

Sasuke walked over until he was standing next to him. He looked down at Naruto and offered his hand.

Not too sure what was up, Naruto blinked some more sleep out of his eyes. "Sasuke? What…?"

"It went just fine. Better than fine. I can't remember the last time I felt this good." Sasuke turned his hand a little, as if trying to capture Naruto's attention with the gesture. "Stand up."

"Why?" Naruto asked suspiciously, but he took the offered hand and used it to help himself off the bed. "What's wrong with you?"

The question was poorly worded, he realized as soon as he was standing face to face with Sasuke. Something was definitely up with him, but it wasn't necessarily wrong. He had a weird expression on his face, a blend of smugness and satisfaction.

"I told you. Everything is just fine." Naruto stumbled a bit in surprise when Sasuke tugged him forward. His mind, awakened by Sasuke's closeness and fresh smell of his shampoo, caught up finally. His breath hitched at the realization. He lifted his free hand to rest it on Sasuke's shoulder, to keep him close.

Sasuke's free hand went right for his hair, fingers pulling painfully until Naruto turned his head just so to accept the kiss. The impatient force of it felt more like their first time back at Sasuke's apartment than kissing in stables. Naruto shivered as he felt a small bite at the side of his lip, from the sensation and from the memory.

The next small bite missed his lips completely, and the one after was so close to his ear Naruto could feel Sasuke's breath over it. He groaned when he finally felt teeth on his earlobe but it only lasted a short moment.

Sasuke pushed him backward. It wasn't very forceful, but Nartuo hit the edge of the bed and almost fell. His body was quick, quicker than his mind. He grabbed a hold of Sasuke, who followed him when he stumbled backwards, tripped him swiftly and landed on top of him in the middle of the bed.

Sasuke groaned, "I remember that. I will learn how to do that."

Naruto snorted his superiority into Sasuke's collarbone, amazed with how well they fit together. Hands traced his back as he tasted the pale skin of Sasuke's neck, harsh and determinedly going all the way up – too far up. Sasuke wrapped his fingers in his hair and used that hold, just like in the stables before, to position Naruto for a kiss to his liking. Naruto let him take what he wanted, he responded to every pull and every demand easily.

His hands started wandering after a few minutes, wanting more than just kissing – no matter how incredible it was. He snuck his hands under Sasuke's shirt – and found the bandage there.

Naruto broke the kiss and pushed himself off, "Fuck. Sorry, I'm – I completely forgot about it."

Sasuke groaned in what sounded like annoyance. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"It's practically healed. I'm fine." In a suggestive and immodest manner, Sasuke arched his hips up, and pressed himself so Naruto would feel every inch of his erect cock against his hipbone. Naruto was stuck between the need to moan and the urge to press Sasuke back into the bed, at a safe distance. "I'm better than fine."

"Yeah, but…"

"How about," Sasuke murmured, this time raising his head for a short kiss, "for a change," Naruto let his head fall back, expecting teeth. There was only the unbelievable softness of Sasuke's lips, trailing light kisses down his neck, and hot air as he finished the sentence, "You let me take care of you?"

"What?" Naruto asked, landing on his back as Sasuke pushed him.

"I'm hurt, and you are in desperate need to stop using that pea-sized brain of yours for a bit," Sasuke clarified. "Trust me to do right by both of us."

"You mean, to bottom. I don't know if I can do that."

"If you are about to tell me you think it's girly, then you should rethink sleeping with a man."

Naruto, who had been quite enjoying the hands and lips on his chest, moving suggestively southward, opened his eyes, "That's not what I…"

Sasuke pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up so harshly it hurt against his teeth, and scratched Naruto's left nipple with the thumb of the other hand. "I know," he said with a smirk that looked so soft it felt like a smile. "You just can't fathom the fact that you don't have to be on top of everything all the time."

"That's not it, either. I changed my mind. I can bottom. I _can_."

Sasuke urged him to take his shirt off. When Naruto's chest was bare, he took off his own as well. His hands returned to Naruto's bare skin, pale and soft. "You can do anything, it seems – except listen."

"It's hard to listen when I'm about to have sex."

"This is not about sex."

Naruto laughed breathlessly. Sasuke said that like he meant it – but he had said it while unbuttoning Naruto's pants. It was hard to take him seriously.

"What is it about?"

"It's about you having serious trust issues." Naruto jerked his hips up when Sasuke's hands slipped off his crotch, but it was nothing to do with that. He looked up to see Sasuke watching him. "I could go on about how upset you still are about your parents choosing the job over you and how your irresponsible godfather didn't help at all – but instead, I'll just ask you something."

"You're making me – less hard," Naruto complained, with no idea at all what the hell Sasuke was on about. Sasuke still waited, expression unchanged, so he added, "Fine, ask me. What?"

"Trust me."

Naruto frowned, uncertain what exactly Sasuke wanted of him, "But – I don't know. It's my body, how will you know…?"

"I said 'trust me' not 'play dead'. Trust me to do what's best for both of us. Trust me to listen when you tell me something doesn't feel good."

"Oh," Naruto said. It still sounded slightly off, like Sasuke was asking too much. So maybe he did have trust issues.

And maybe he wanted Sasuke's hands back on him more than he needed to put his own hands on Sasuke.

"Alright."

As a long awaited award, Sasuke pulled Naruto's pants – and his boxers, in one go - off his hips.

* * *

Sasuke was still sleeping when Naruto had to go.

He was warm and comfortable in the medium sized bed in his room, still dumfounded by the fact that Sasuke was his to touch whenever he felt like it – and he felt like it a lot. There was something simply amazing with how he could press his palms lower on Sasuke's fair skin, wake him and urge him to turn on his back, and not only get away with it, but be welcomed.

The thought had just started twisting into a great idea when the phone rang. Naruto jumped to pick it up before it woke Sasuke. He might have came close waking him up himself when he had snatched his arm from under Sasuke's head, but luckily he hadn't. Sasuke only shifted and continued sleeping.

Naruto answered the phone, talking quietly. From the other side, Temari reminded him of his promise to Gaara. She also laughed at him - between innuendos that were a sure sign that the entire house knew Sasuke was with him - for whispering, so Naruto hung up on her in order to get ready.

There weren't a lot of people around the decent sized amphitheater, maybe sixty in total. Among them, the fighters were already stretching or taking their shirts off when Naruto walked in. Kankuro waved him over to the central part of the audience, where he was sitting.

"Take this and keep it close," he said, giving Naruto a cell phone. "If I call and you feel it vibrating, stop the fight immediately."

"Why?"

"_Because_," Kankuro patiently explained, the jerk, and smiled toothily when Naruto gritted his teeth. "Try not to put yourself between the fight and the cameras, some important people are watching these live and don't want to wait to check stuff from another angle. Are you following?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm supposed to jump when you say so and stay out of the way of your – whatever they are, _clients_?"

"Exactly. Now go start this and make sure no one gets killed."

There was a much smaller need to keep people from killing each other than Naruto had been lead to believe. Most of them seemed fairly level headed, here for the money, not blood. It was the people on the other side of the fence who were hot headed and insatiable, yelling crude encouragements. Naruto developed a headache early on – watching ultimate fighting was much more fun when you were either just watching or – probably – when you participated yourself. The lights were too bright, often blinding him for many seconds at a time. He hadn't expected to have fun doing this, but it never occurred to him that the greatest bother would be the atmosphere.

The evening was about halfway though. The fighters had gotten each other in a lock that Naruto couldn't see a way out from. They were about the same size and same skill level, and they seemed to know each other's style very well. Someone was going to have to be hurt or outsmarted before the fight was over.

Naruto leaned back on the barred entry to the arena, the only part of the fence that wasn't made of ten-foot-high chicken wire. A medic team was just on the other side, alert and under the command of a bored looking guy with glasses. Naruto decided to shift to the left – the camera behind him be dammed - so they could have a better view.

Before he could do more than detach himself from the harsh metal bars, a hand took a hold of his shirt and pulled him back. Even though he was pretty certain it was Sasuke, Naruto glanced back quickly to make sure and smiled. He got no smile in return; Sasuke was watching the fight over his shoulder. Naruto couldn't keep his happiness off his face as he turned to the two people who were desperately struggling out of the uncomfortable lock.

Sasuke moved his hand and pressed close. His body provided a curious heat between the cold bars and Naruto tried to press back into him. It wasn't working, the metal remained solid. It was better than nothing.

"Naruto," Sasuke called after several seconds. He turned his head, so the rest came though the bars into his ear. "I have to go."

Naruto frowned. Sasuke didn't strike him as someone who couldn't take the sight of a fight. "Back to the house?"

He felt a hand on his hip, pressing as if to keep him grounded, "Back to the city – no, don't turn around, that doesn't look good."

The fight was firing up, Sasuke was right about that. The slightly shorter guy who had been on his back but not giving in for the majority of the match had finally managed to find an angle to deliver some harsh kicks to his opponent's stomach.

Naruto knew he had to keep watching, he had promised he would, but he grabbed Sasuke's hand to keep it in place, over his hip. "With your brother? Is this his idea? You can't go back there yet, Kakashi…"

"…Will explain everything, he's waiting for you back at the house," Sasuke interrupted. "The idea was mine, and Itachi didn't like it any more than you will."

"Great, then – you can't go."

Sasuke snorted next to his ear, as if Naruto had cracked a joke. He wiggled his hand out of Naruto's somehow, even though Naruto had been holding tightly enough to leave bruises. "I'll see you soon, it'll be fine. Just remember that it was my idea, alright?"

The warmth between the bars disappeared. Torn, Naruto turned to look in the direction Sasuke had gone, but he caught the sight of the medic guy with glasses standing up, face tense. There was little choice left but to turn his attention back to the arena.

Even though the smaller guy was now dealing hits repeatedly and mercilessly, he wasn't breaking any rules. There was no sign that the other guy would give in any time soon, he determinedly refused to make a sound or show how much pain was he in.

That reminded Naruto forcefully about what exactly was waiting for Sasuke back in the city and made the decision for him. He stopped the fight, ignoring the savage protests and the phone in his pocket that started vibrating almost instantly. The fighters looked confused and angry, but Naruto had no time for explanations. _My newfound lover is on his way back to the city _didn't sound like something they would take to kindly, anyway.

Naruto yanked the gate open and collided with a pissed off Kankuro.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I have to go," Naruto told him, looking for a way around him. "You take over."

"That's not what I do…"

"I don't give a shit, just get out of my…"

"Naruto…"

The next words came out as nothing more than a startled yelp. Naruto didn't waste much energy; he did a simple arm lock to throw Kankuro off balance and pulled him off the narrow path. It was only fitting to deal with an obstacle in a physical manner in the battle arena, after all.

It was dark, all the illumination was focused on the inside of the building. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Naruto had no idea which way he had gone; two of four gates of the Sabaku farms were about equally distanced.

He took a chance, ran to the one on his right first. There was nothing there, so he ran back and to the other gate. The lane on both sides was empty and darkened there as well. He had missed his chance, Sasuke was gone.

Holding onto the last bit of hope, Naruto hurried toward the main house. Breathless, panting and angry to the point of snapping, he faced Kakashi who walked out the open double doors of the dining room.

"It was his idea," Kakashi instantly distanced himself.

"What, exactly, was his idea?" Naruto demanded.

"It's a good plan, too," Kakashi said thoughtfully, ignoring Naruto's question like he was talking to someone else. "I think it will work. You said you wanted to participate, right?"

Perplexed, Naruto frowned, "The plan? To take down the Mayor? What does Sasuke has to do with it?"

"I told you, he thought of it. Itachi called me this afternoon to tell me, on Sasuke's request." Kakashi walked past Naruto, in that nonchalant, uncaring way he had. "Are you coming?"

"Back to the city? Yeah, but… Why couldn't he wait? We could have traveled back together."

Naruto followed Kakashi out. There was nothing that he'd left in the room upstairs that was his, but it was still hard to resist the urge to go and see it once again.

"My guess is, he didn't want you to try and talk him out of it," Kakashi said, closing the door behind him. "You did a great job of keeping him safe, there is practically no one else the Mayor was after left alive, aside from Sasuke and Itachi. They both owe you a lot."

"It was a job."

Kakashi snorted and headed down the lane toward the main gate, "Yeah, so I heard, just a job."

If Naruto was the type to blush, he would have at Kakashi's tone. As it was, he only scowled, "Whatever. I don't want Sasuke to put himself in any danger. Please tell me that plan doesn't involve something dangerous? It's bad enough he's headed back to the city right now."

Kakashi's steps were ominously loud when he failed to answer right away. Naruto held his breath and had to fight to keep up.

"Sorry, kid, I can't tell you that," Kakashi finally said. "But I'll tell you everything else you want to know in the car, so we won't waste time. Hurry."

Knowing Kakashi, he wouldn't take kindly to insisting and demanding. Crushing the urge to resort to it, Naruto followed him down the dark lane that led off the property of the Sabaku family. He'd have to call back and say sorry and thank you, but that would have to wait.

He had to make sure Sasuke didn't get himself into too much trouble with whatever crazy idea he had thought of first.


	8. Ch7: Bodies Buried in Peace

Part Seven

**Bodies Buried in Peace**

(Plato of Your Kind)

* * *

Waiting was a torture. Naruto was at his absolute worse when he had to wait for someone - something. With as much on stake as it was, waiting for the signal to remain in spot for more than an hour was probably the worst possible thing that he could have been doing.

The Shelter wasn't as full as it had been the week before. Everyone who was considered in danger was sent through reliable channels out of the city, out the jurisdiction of the Mayor. Others, left on their own.

Naruto wiped his sweaty hands and glared at where Kakashi was calmly sipping his coffee and reading yesterday's paper. Behind him, the first light of dawn was breaking in though the holes in the old, ratty curtain. The Shelter was still in the old theater, so they were sitting in one of the changing rooms – the best one, judging by its access to natural light.

Iruka was napping on the couch. Neither him nor Kakashi seemed to have a problem waiting. Naruto wiped his palms again and started to glare at Iruka, just for a change. Stupid military and special forces and what-not trained veterans and their steely nerves! He was on the verge of starting to throw stuff at both of them, so they would stop acting like it was just any regular day.

It would have been better if it hadn't been so silent. He'd maybe mange to distract himself, not worry as much. He knew the people were ready. They were waiting in their cars, scattered throughout the city. That way, they were hoping that at least one group would be close enough to scout the place out before the body of the coup arrived. Itachi was also waiting, with his faithful Big Blue Kisame bodyguard. Naruto had seen him for a moment as soon as Kakashi and him arrived back to the city… which was almost two days before.

He'd ranted a bit, even after he'd seen that Itachi was clearly worried as well. Sasuke was stubborn and a grownup, but he was going to get his ass kicked all he way up to the North Pole anyway.

Sasuke had come up with an idea, and it was so stupid that Naruto couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the entire city's worth of (hastily assembled) resistance was going along with it. He was going to get himself caught.

Actually, he probably already did get himself caught.

Not just like that, it took some preparation – but they were relying on a lot of luck, too.

The idea was to spread a rumor that Sasuke had been in contact with Kakashi – as he, admittedly, had been, which was helpful in case the info was already in the hands of the Mayor – and that he had some sort of evidence that sent Kakashi straight to the Capitol. It was supposed to make the Mayor scared and curious enough to order that Sasuke was to be taken in alive, and taken directly to him.

It was one hell of a chance to take.

The second part of the plan involved burying a subdermal RFID device designed for tracking snakes in the wilderness under Sasuke's skin and beating him up a bit so that the bruised skin around the gadget wouldn't be revealing. Naruto felt immensely better about that part.

About six hours ago, Sasuke went out on the streets on his own. Naruto had no direct supervision of the signal after the fit he'd thrown early within the second hour of watching the blinking dot, so he had to wait for the second hand information. The agreement was, Sasuke wouldn't stay in place for long. If the signal kept coming from the same position for longer than an hour, the small army of people Kakashi had spent all his time gathering for the cause in the last week would drive there, forcefully enter the premised and…

Well, it was an assassination mission. The thought alone was filling Naruto's mouth with bile, but he'd known it would to come down to this. On some level, he'd known. That was how people were always dealing with tyrants, right? He'd prefer to wait if there was a chance to find another solution but it was much too late already. It was too late as soon as Sasuke so cleverly went completely behind his back and presented the idea to Kakashi and persuaded Itachi to support it financially.

Naruto stood up and started pacing. He'd tried watching television earlier, but they were bragging how their city was finally safe and without crime. The host of the rerun show he was watching was showing some kids playing around in a playground behind her and Naruto just barely resisted throwing the remote at her.

Generally speaking, the city was clear of crime. Itachi was likely the only guy who did seriously immoral stuff still around. But killing everyone you don't want about wasn't the way and even if Naruto couldn't explain it eloquently, he knew it in his gut.

Not every person conducting illegal business was evil – just look at Iruka.

Not every person that hurt or killed someone was irredeemably rotten.

And anyway, most of 'bad' people simply skipped town and went to be their evil doing selves someplace else. What kind of a solution was that?

Kakashi said, when Naruto ranted about it during their terribly long trip back, that maybe the Mayor was planning to do the same thing on the level of the country. People liked him, even if he was a little odd. He was charismatic and handsome, but not too young to annoy.

That was a scary thought. That was why they were doing all this. He had to go, before people started dying on his whim everywhere, for the sake of an old, impossible dream of having a perfect, peaceful country.

"Forty minutes," Kakashi said. Iruka opened his eyes and looked at his watch. Naruto stopped breathing for a bit. They wouldn't move unless Kakashi announced that an entire hour had passed since Sasuke changed location last, but he'd never stayed in place for more than half an hour before, so chances that it was time were great.

"Do we really have to wait for an hour?" he urged, standing close enough to peek over Kakashi's head on the screen. He recognized the area the small green light was flashing over. Konohamaru's family lived a few streets away.

"Probably not," Kakashi said. "But we will anyway, because that was the plan. You can get ready, though."

"I _am_ ready."

"Where is it?" Iruka interrupted.

"Runaway Hill," Kakashi said with a little frown.

"I thought the Mayor didn't have a house there."

"He doesn't. I'm sure. It would have been much easier if we knew where he lived."

"It's too out of the way for Sasuke to be there by accident, though," Iruka added thoughtfully. "Perhaps he found a way to keep a house under someone else's name, or is just using someone's house."

"Forty-three minutes. Let's go."

Iruka stood up at once, not a trace of sleepiness on him. He adjusted his belt and waited for Kakashi to pick up the computer. Naruto was at the door already.

* * *

Traffic was practically nonexistent at that hour, yet by the time they reached outskirts of Runaway Hill, the hour had come and passed. And Sasuke hadn't moved. Perhaps one could argue he'd fallen asleep, but the neighborhood was unlikely to be his choice to relax. You couldn't even reach it without a car.

"Take a deep breath, Naruto," Iruka advised. "You're too tense."

"I'm worried," Naruto protested.

"You'll end up killing us all if you don't relax a little. You've been in worse situations in the last few weeks. This is nothing."

Perhaps it was nothing, but those situations usually snuck up on him, he hadn't gone looking for them. It made him nervous, and that was the least of it.

"He could be dead," Naruto offered, trying to breathe through his nose on purpose. Sakura had told him once it helped her when she'd get cold feet.

"He's not dead. If they wanted him dead so soon, they would not drag him all the way up here."

That did help. A little. Naruto kept breathing.

The automatic lights occasionally turned on as they drove by the tall iron gates, but it was morning already, it wasn't too noticeable. Only glimpses of houses could be caught from the streets, between the thick treetops. It was a really good, really rich neighborhood.

Their car was second to arrive before the right one in a line of gates.

"Unit three and four ready, west side," Kakashi said after getting off his phone. "We're waiting for the unit two to finish crossing the small lake behind the house. And what does Itachi think he's doing?"

Naruto looked away from the distant terrace on the house to the car parked across from the gate. Itachi and Kisame were sitting in them. He opened the door of the car as soon as they stopped directly behind Itachi's. Iruka and Kakashi followed him out.

The gate was high, it had a blinking surveillance camera in one corner and it would be ridiculously easy to climb over it. Naruto looked back. Kakashi was talking to Itachi through the open window in a low voice. Iruka was on the phone, ordering people to wait for the signal. The second unit had arrived, then.

So Naruto went up to the gate, climbed it as quickly and as silently as he could despite being acutely aware of the camera and jumped to the other side. He shrugged his shoulder as Iruka shook his head at him. They needed a distraction anyway, and Naruto couldn't wait any longer.

A set of steps was approaching at a running speed. Naruto took his gun out and slid sidewise into the thick shadows of the redish-brown line of bush threes. Two men's silhouettes showed on the other side of the pathway. Naruto stepped farther back through the shrubbery and thorns bit into his flesh.

The two men stopped in a momentarily confusion. Naruto, protected from their sight, raised his gun. Then Iruka swore like a deranged sailor and the crossfire that followed allowed Naruto to turn around and run toward the house, without worrying about being heard. He meant to be the distraction for the others, but this worked, too.

The fire stopped before he reached the end of the park. A movement caught something on his right – west side, unites three and four. They were sliding over the tall outer wall with the help of ropes. Naruto held himself still behind a sole spherical topiary as they turned the corner of the house. There were more than two people at the front door – maybe four, maybe more – and they were alert and quick. Another crossfire took place right before Naruto. He lifted his gun and helped this time, very effective from his hiding place.

He saw as the leader of this section spotted him and dismissed him as a non-threat for the mission. Kakashi must have had warned them.

As most of the group moved toward the cleared entry point, Naruto went past the guy behind the corner who was nursing his bleeding shoulder and along the west side of the house. The early morning light was still gray and dim.

Climbing a large balcony on the first floor wasn't nearly as easy as climbing the gate. There was nothing to hold onto, but the wall was covered with red brick for decoration and allowed some leverage. It still took a few long minutes. Sounds of guns going off again, somewhere inside the house, helped Naruto ignore his scraped fingertips.

As he jumped over on the balcony, the shooting continued. He broke the French window by throwing a heavy plant pot through it. The shattering sound didn't stop the noise in the house.

Naruto tiptoed inside, wary of the glass and of possibility of someone being on the other side. He was in a huge, luxurious and empty bedroom. The sound of firearm stopped, replaced with running footsteps. He couldn't tell who'd won, so he just opened the first door he found. A bathroom with two exits, empty. Naruto walked through it, then through another bedroom and into an office that…

…wasn't empty.

Sasuke was there, just sitting on a couch, half the face swelled almost beyond recognition.

His gun was on the ready and Naruto aimed at the familiar person sitting behind at huge desk. The wild, bright hair looked unnatural in the mixture of the light from the green desk lamp and dull morning.

"He's armed," Sasuke warned.

Of course he was. But Naruto couldn't see it. He asked, "You okay?"

No answer.

The Mayor didn't look like he was about to attack and Naruto was at a loss. He knew why he was there. An assassination mission. This person needed to die. His impassive, cold face and the complete lack of fear were unnerving. He stared right at Naruto, who swallowed.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Sasuke wasn't moving. That was unnerving, too. But okay, okay. The plan was, get him out first. Have Sasuke safe. Then think about… the mission.

Naruto moved toward the little couch under the steady gaze of two people until he was standing next to Sasuke. No one else moved.

"Sasuke? Get behind me."

Sasuke moved a little, watching the Mayor carefully. There was no reaction, so he moved a little more. He leaned heavily on the side rest until he was on his feet, obviously hurt, but once he was up it wasn't so bad and he moved. He felt around Naruto's waistline with cold hands and he found a Beretta 9000s which Naruto had grabbed from Kakashi's storage to be his backup gun.

The Mayor calmly watched them as another weapon was aimed at him. Sasuke wasn't shooting him, though. Naruto half expected he would. But he wasn't.

It made him a little happy, inside.

"So this was a setup."

The Mayor's voice sounded rougher than Naruto remembered from television. There was no rage, no incredulity in it.

"Well," Naruto said, still at a loss. "You can't just kill everyone you dislike, you know."

That summed up his current situation quite well, really.

"It's not a matter of dislike."

"You still _can't_."

"Unproductive members of society are bad enough, individuals who actively disrupt order and law for personal gain are unacceptable."

"So you arrest them," Naruto suggested.

"I've tried. Tackling corruption is an impossible task."

Sasuke laughed at that, in crisp snorts. "So you took an easy way out. You tried to kill my brother."

The door opened, somewhere behind Naruto. He glanced back, hoping Sasuke wouldn't. At the door was Kakashi, armed and silent. He stayed there.

"Your bother deserved to die."

Sasuke inhaled loudly. But he didn't pull the trigger, thank God.

"Bummer for you I disagreed," Naruto shot back.

For the first time, Mayor's facial expression changed. His eyes, sharp as a scalpel, set firmly on Naruto's. He looked angry. Naruto wanted to laugh.

"You," the Mayor said like he was about to start a diatribe, but then he stopped. He closed his eyes, just for a second, and then added, "Time to finish this, then."

Naruto opened his mouth to ask something. He didn't get a word out. The Mayor stood up, making a very clear target of himself, with a gun in his left hand. Naruto had a second to admire the shiny beauty of it as the Kymber Eclipse went up to level with his face. Three shoots in a closed room, one of which his own, made Naruto deaf for a short moment and then the sound of a body hitting something solid came through a high whistling sound.

He saw it, though. In the moment of stillness, before the sounds came rushing back. He saw that he hit where he aimed, below the left shoulder. There was also a wound on the Mayor's chest, a little too low, just below the heart. And there was one in the middle of his forehead, clean and perfect.

The last one was the only one visible as Naruto approached. Larger caliber than the Beretta which Sasuke had taken from him, so it was Kakashi's shot. Sasuke aimed for the torso.

"Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted the group examination of the dead body slouched over the desk. "Think carefully about where you might have left your fingerprints and blood. Your situation is bad enough without the forensics linking you to this place."

Naruto twisted his mouth, "Can't we just – burn the place and go home?"

Kakashi actually thought about it. "They might decide it to be an accident."

"This couch here, the floor around it," Sasuke pointed. "The staircase – especially at the bottom. All over the small room next to the kitchen, they had me locked there for a while, so I was checking to see if I could get out of I had to. I think that's it."

"Alright. Naruto, get him out of here."

As Naruto saw earlier, Sasuke could walk. But he obediently put his arm around his waist and finally relaxed when he felt Sasuke's weight settle against him.

"It worked," Sasuke said, as they walked through the door into the hallway.

"You were lucky," Naruto answered quietly, not having the heart to get angry about it as the movement. "You were alone in the room with him, and he was armed. It was stupid. It was the most ridiculous plan in the history of mankind. He could have taken you hostage, or just shoot you. Or tortured you or something."

"It worked," Sasuke repeated, like he hadn't heard a word.

"Well… I'm glad he didn't. But it was a stupid plan."

Sasuke's hand squeezed his shoulder, but he didn't answer. They descended the large ornamented staircase slowly, together. At the bottom, Itachi was inspecting a small, drying pool of blood like he knew was his brother's.

Naruto left Sasuke to Itachi's searching look and hands for a moment and went to find Iruka. Kakashi would have said if something had happened to him, but it was different to see for yourself.

The quick hug was followed by a scorn, "That was dumb. You almost jeopardized the mission with your impatience."

"It was meant to be a distraction," Naruto answered, poking a blood stain on Iruka's arm. It was someone else's. "You were supposed to let them come after me."

Iruka shook his head. He didn't say anything. Naruto suddenly couldn't explain how he ever thought these people would use him as bait, even though they were supposed to, even though he never even left them a choice.

He should have had asked for their help sooner.

Naruto nodded, with as much gratefulness as he could put into the gesture and left Iruka to cleaning up the place.

He found Sasuke again in backseat of Itachi's car, which was parked in the same place where he had last seen them. Itachi and Kisame were both standing around, as if unable to settle down. Naruto could understand that. After such a short action, adrenaline couldn't just give in to fatigue.

He brushed deliberately next to Kisame, hand quick and easy, and said to Itachi, "Kakashi wants to see you."

Itachi, apparently, had no reason to think Naruto would lie to him.

"You'll be alright?" he asked Sasuke, who only made an abrupt shooing motion with his hand and closed his eyes.

Kisame followed Itachi toward the house. Naruto waited a minute and got into the driver's seat. He turned around to find Sasuke had opened his eyes and showed him the car keys he'd nicked from Kisame.

"Wanna get out of here?"

Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes again. "Why doesn't it surprise me you can pickpocket?"

Naruto started the engine. As Sasuke didn't look seriously hurt, only tired, he planed to go see Sakura quickly and then use the ruckus that would take place once the news about the Mayor got around to leave town and see his godmother. She was a doctor and she lived alone in a huge house. It was awhile since he'd last visited.

Then, once Sasuke healed some and rested, he'd go to see Jiraiya.

These vague plans in check, Naruto curiously looked at Sasuke through the rear mirror, "Won't you ask where we're going?"

"No," Sasuke said, his eyes still closed. He looked relaxed, with his badass bruises and hair a bird's nest. It made Naruto grin.

He let Sasuke nap, turned left at the end of the street and tried to steel himself for the first one of the three heavy tirades that waited for him. Sakura for to deliver first because she was the closest.

But Naruto, even though worse for wear and a bit troubled, wasn't worried – for the first time in forever.

The End

* * *

A/N: Well, it's been a while, huh? Two years for this little scrap. I can't say I'm not pleased it's done, though. :D

I hope you enjoyed the story, in all its OOCness and incorrectness and silliness. Please don't take anything I said about... well, anything, really, as true; it likely isn't. And thank you very much for reading.


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